To Charm a City Girl
by ausllydawmoon
Summary: Summertime is the best time when you live on the small island called Lost Isle, and especially when you're Austin Moon. All he wants to do is surf, eat, and have fun with his best friends (and his adorable pet monkey, Coco). But then Ally Dawson shows up on his beach with her bratty city girl attitude and his perfect summer goes out the window...or so he thought.
1. Chapter 1

The feeling he gets when he's surfing is better than anything he's ever felt before. The sun shining down on him; the seawater misting his face; the wind in his hair; the rush of adrenaline whenever he catches a _perfect_ wave: everything about surfing makes him feel so… _free_. And especially now that school's out and summer's finally here, he feels like he can do _anything_.

But then his moment ends and he gets off balance, his board flying out from under him and sending him tumbling into the water. He regains his bearings and swims to the surface, climbing back on his board while his friends laugh at him from a few yards away.

"Little rusty there, eh Austin?" Jace calls out to him.

"I'd like to see you do better!" Austin fires back, paddling closer to his friend.

"Maybe I will!" he replies.

"Boys, boys," Dez says, making his way over to the pair, "there is only one way to settle this." The redhead pauses with his hands held out in front of him for dramatic effect. "The Super Totally Awesome Best Friend Surfing World Cup Championship of the Universe!" he exclaims.

"You're _on_ ," Jace says, narrowing his eyes at Austin.

"Well…you're even _more_ on," Austin says back, glaring at the brunette.

Then, they simultaneously break off and paddle out towards the waves, hoping to catch as many as possible within the next half hour (as the rules for the Super Totally Awesome Best Friend Surfing World Cup Championship of the Universe go). Whoever catches the most wins, and Austin _refuses_ to lose to the high school graduate again. Especially because he knows that he won't hear the end of it if Jace goes off to college without Austin or Dez beating him _once_ in the two years and countless hours spent surfing of their friendship.

For the next thirty minutes, all Austin can think about is beating Jace. He catches wave after wave, and thank goodness they're good today or this would be a lot more frustrating. He doesn't look over to check on how Jace is doing as he normally does, and maybe that's why he actually feels good about his chances at winning when the thirty minutes are up.

"And the winner is…" Dez says mysteriously, pausing while the three of them splash the water in a watery drumroll, "Austin!"

" _What_?!" Jace exclaims.

" _Yes_!" Austin shouts, pumping his fists in the air in victory.

"With nine waves against Jace's eight, I hereby announce Austin Moon as the Super Totally Awesome Best Friend Surfing World Cup Champion of the Universe!" Dez announces.

Austin laughs at Jace's shocked and frustrated expression, but that laugh turns into a surprised shriek when Jace pushes him off his board and into the water.

"Don't be such a sore loser," Austin teases as he climbs back on his board.

"I'll be whatever I want," Jace says defensively, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Austin says. "You're gonna go live your dreams in college while me and Dez are stuck in high school."

"I wasn't referring to that, but yes," Jace replies. "Finally getting island fever like everyone else?"

"Never," Austin says. "I'm living on this tiny island till the day I _die_."

And the island they live on really _is_ tiny; it's only about four square miles, and even then the thick vegetation only allowed a small amount of space for those who first built the small town that Austin and his friends now inhibit.

"Everyone leaves Lost Isle eventually," Jace reminds him.

"Man, I can't believe the three of us only have a few months left together," Dez speaks up with a frown.

"Don't get all sappy on me now," Jace says, nudging the redhead gently. "Summer just started! All any of us should be thinking about now are the three 'B's of the best summer ever: bros, boards, and burgers." He counts the words on his fingers as he lists them.

" _Burgers_ ," Austin exhales, suddenly realizing that they've been in the water all day with nothing to eat. "Let's go get some."

"I like the way you think, Super Totally Awesome Best Friend Surfing World Cup Champion of the Universe," Jace says, patting his stomach. "Last one to the shore won't get laid this summer!"

The three boys set off paddling, and Dez ends up being the sore loser.

"But _Austin's_ the one without a girlfriend!" Dez complains as they put their shirts on and start walking up the beach to the diner Austin's parents own.

"Sucks to be a loser, buddy," Austin teases good naturedly, ruffling Dez's hair before the redhead ducks away.

"Sucks for _you_ not to have a girlfriend!" Dez retorts childishly.

"I don't need a girlfriend," Austin says with a shrug. "I just wanna enjoy this summer with my two best friends and not worry about any girl drama."

"Aw, buddy," Jace says in a mocking sentimental voice, wrapping an arm around Austin. "Best buddies for life."

"I'm serious!" Austin exclaims, shrugging Jace's arm off. "Last summer when I was dating Piper I hardly ever hung out with you guys. And now that I'm single, I wanna spend all summer making up for it."

"Such nice boy," Dez says, pinching Austin's cheek.

"I can't win with you two," Austin says, batting Dez's hand away and rolling his eyes.

The three friends lean their surfboards against the wall outside the diner and walk inside.

"I was wondering when you boys would be back!" Austin's mother exclaims cheerily, walking over to them from where she was standing behind the counter.

"Hi, Mrs. Moon!" Dez says.

"We're _starving_ ," Jace tells her.

"Well, I'm sure you are. You've been out there for hours!" His mom kisses his cheek, and he smiles at her.

"The waves were _sick_ today, mom. You wouldn't even believe it! And I beat Jace at the Super Totally Awesome Best Friend Surfing World Cup Championship of the Universe!"

"I've never been more proud," she teases. "Now you three, go wash up. I'll have Mike make you lunch."

"You're the best, Mrs. Moon!" Dez exclaims, running off to the bathroom with Jace on his heels.

"You hear that, Austin? I'm the best," she says with a grin.

Austin smiles back at her and nods. "You really are."

He follows his friends to the bathroom to wash up, and then they walk back into the diner and sit down at a table.

It's fairly busy, but with such a small population living in their small town (it's more of a neighborhood, really) on the island, the diner is never completely full.

"I've got three usuals," Austin's dad says, walking up with their favorite burgers on a tray.

"Thanks, Mr. Moon," Jace and Dez chorus as their meals are set in front of them along with their usual soda orders.

"Thanks, dad," Austin adds, eyeing his double bacon cheeseburger with no pickles and extra bacon.

"You're welcome," Austin's dad replies with a smile. He waves to the boys and walks away.

"So," Austin says around his first bite of the mouth-watering cheeseburger, "what're we doing tonight?"

"I'm going out with Trish," Jace says.

"And _I'm_ going out with Carrie. Sorry, buddy," Dez adds, sipping his Sprite.

Austin sighs. "Fine. I guess I'll just hang out with Dallas or Piper or something."

"As long as you don't take Piper to the Cliff. No need for a repeat of last summer," Jace says.

'The Cliff' isn't _actually_ called 'the Cliff.' It's a real cliff, yes, but the proper name for it is Crescent Cliff, named after their beloved Crescent Beach, but the young people of Lost Isle prefer to refer to it simply as 'the Cliff,' because really it's the only well-known cliff on the island. And it's only 'well-known' because it's the place couples go to… _be couples_.

Last summer, Austin had kinda been crushing on Piper, a tall, blonde surfing _dream_ in his grade. He invited her there with him, and miraculously she had said yes. So of course they had kissed (a lot) and somehow she ended up as his girlfriend. But they weren't really anything other than a summer fling, and they had parted as friends when school started.

"Very funny," Austin says. "I just told you, I'm not dealing with girls this summer. Nope, it's just gonna be me, you guys, and occasionally your girlfriends."

Dez and Jace laugh, and the three of them finish their lunch.

"I better get home and shower. Carrie hates it when I smell like the ocean because it reminds her of fish and she doesn't like fish," Dez says, standing up.

"Yeah, I should go too," Jace agrees.

"And I guess I'll go home and try to hang out with someone. Or maybe I'll just stay in."

"Lame," Jace teases. "See ya tomorrow, buddy."

The brunette walks out with Dez, and Austin stays for a little while to help out his parents.

It's sunset when he walks next door to his house. He goes straight up to his room.

"Coco?" he says, turning on the light.

He makes his way to the corner of the room between his bed and his window and peeks inside the makeshift handkerchief hammock hanging from the ceiling on two pieces of thin rope. Sure enough, his tiny monkey is sleeping inside.

He isn't sure about the legality of keeping a wild monkey as a pet, but he knows that there's no one who will really get him in trouble for it on this island. He met Coco while walking in the forest a few years ago. He must have been too close to his home or something, because one moment Austin was about to rest under a tree and the next thing he knew, half-grown coconuts were being pelted at him from above.

One thing led to another and Austin ended up accidentally shaking the monkey out of the tree, fortunately catching him before he hit the ground. Then the tiny animal wouldn't leave him alone, so he decided to just take him home and keep him as a pet. He named him Coco as a reference to the coconuts he had thrown at him, and the two had become happy roommates.

Austin decides to let Coco sleep and goes to take a shower, letting the warm water wash away all the salt and sand from his tired body.

Afterwards he decides that he'd rather not hang with anyone tonight, so he goes downstairs to make himself dinner. He decides on potato chips and a smoothie, and he makes his way back to his room with his food.

He reclines on his bed and turns on the TV, flipping through the channels until he decides on a recap of a basketball game.

A few minutes later he hears the light padding sounds on the makeshift 'staircase' up to Coco's hammock sitting on his nightstand. Then the tiny fur ball himself crawls onto Austin's chest and sniffs at his dinner.

"You haven't eaten all day, have you?" Austin says to the monkey, turning to look at his nightstand. Sure enough, Coco pulled the small blue piece of yarn off its spot hanging on the wall with the other multicolored pieces of yarn that Austin taught the smart monkey how to communicate with.

He grabs Coco's small bowl off his nightstand and uses his straw to transfer some of his smoothie into it. He sets it down on his chest for Coco to pick up, but the monkey just stares at it.

"C'mon, it's a smoothie. Fruity. You'll love it."

Coco sniffs at it and sticks his hand in it, proceeding to lick the beverage off his fingers. Apparently satisfied with the taste, he picks up the bowl and starts drinking it.

Austin watches him, still munching on his chips. "I don't know why you're a monkey," he says. "You eat so much, you should've been a pig."

When Coco sets down the now half-empty bowl for a break, Austin pets the monkey's head with his index finger. Coco makes a noise that sounds like the monkey version of purring and closes his eyes.

Austin smiles and stops to see if Coco is going to drink any more of the smoothie. He picks up the bowl again (he always does) and finishes off his dinner.

When he sets the bowl down on Austin's chest, his face is a darker brown than usual because of the smoothie remnants wetting his fur.

Austin sighs and sets the empty bowl on his nightstand again. He starts getting up, so Coco crawls up his chest to where he usually perches on his shoulder.

"Let's give you a bath," he says.

Coco makes an excited noise – he's always loved baths – and Austin walks to the bathroom.

He turns on the sink and waits for the water to warm up before plugging it. He gently picks up Coco off his shoulder and sets him on the counter. The monkey immediately dashes into the water, and Austin smiles at his pet.

He grabs a washcloth and gets it wet, putting soap on it before gently rubbing it on Coco's fur. Coco closes his eyes, and Austin makes sure to hold him up with his free hand just in case the tired monkey falls asleep again.

Sure enough, by the time Austin's done cleaning Coco up and drying him off, he's asleep. Austin carries Coco back to his room and places him in the hammock before laying down on his bed again, watching the TV until he falls asleep too.

* * *

 **sooooo I wasn't gonna start this until summer but then I got the idea for this plot and then suddenly IT ALL STARTED COMING TOGETHER AND I COULDN'T STOP MYSELF soooooo THIS IS MY NEW FIC YAY! Also, I'm just gonna say this off the bat: I don't think any of you lovelies would do this but just in case, please don't come at me with everything that would be wrong with Austin and Coco. This is a fictional story, so I think we can cut them a little slack. Besides CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE! Anyway, I hope you liked the first chapter, and I can't wait to go on this super totally awesome best friend adventure world cup of the universe with all of you!**

 **Also, I'd like to thank Lexy for being my love and inspiration and the lovely Normah for this story's BEAUTIFUL cover! :D :D :D**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey guys, we should head back for lunch pretty soon," Dez says, paddling over to where Austin and Jace are sitting on their boards and talking.

"I'm hungry, too," Jace agrees.

"A few more minutes!" Austin says. "I just wanna catch one more wave."

"Hurry," Dez tells him.

Austin nods and paddles out farther into the ocean just as the biggest wave he's seen all day starts forming. He grins and positions himself on his board as the wave approaches.

But instead of riding the wave, the tower of water washes over him instead, tossing him off his board and sending him tumbling in the water. He swims to the surface coughing, and he's met with Dez and Jace laughing at him.

"Well, there's your one more wave," Jace smirks.

Austin rolls his eyes. "Fine, let's go eat."

The three of them paddle back to shore and separate to collect their things.

Austin walks to the spot he usually leaves his towel and shirt: a nice sunny spot about halfway between the water and the boardwalk. But his stuff isn't there.

However, a girl he doesn't recognize is.

His shirt and towel are strewn haphazardly a few feet away from her, as though she tossed them over there absentmindedly while setting up her towel in _his_ spot. He clenches his jaw and marches over to her, stopping to stand above her.

He can't see her eyes behind her sunglasses, but he assumes she's opened them to look at him.

"You're blocking my sun," the girl deadpans, not sitting up from where she's laying on her towel.

"My stuff was here," Austin says. "You stole my spot."

"No, your stuff was _there_ ," the brunette says, pointing to where she threw his belongings. "Now if you could move, it would be much appreciated."

"How about _you_ move?" Austin tells her, getting angrier by the second.

"Ah, see, I can't," the girl says. "In order for me to get a perfect tan, the sun has to hit me equally everywhere. If I move, that will be ruined. So since I got here at eleven, I'm going to have to be in this spot until one in order to have an even exposure to the sun. So you, _surfer dude_ , are gonna have to suck it up and deal with being three feet away from your oh-so precious spot on the beach for another hour and a half."

Austin crosses his arms. "Why do you even need to tan, sweetheart? You've already got that fake one going for you."

The girl doesn't even flinch. "Well, aren't you charming?" she says sarcastically. "Bet you've got a lot of friends with that winning personality."

"You're no golden girl either, Sunglasses."

"I don't intend to make any friends here, Charming."

"Who _are_ you?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"What're you doing here?"

"Vacationing," the girl replies. "So why don't you run along and quit ruining it?"

Austin opens his mouth to retort, but then he realizes that Dez and Jace are probably waiting for him. He sighs and closes his mouth, deciding to let this strange girl win this round.

And hopefully he'll never have to see her again.

Which is unlikely.

He puts his shirt on and wraps his towel around his neck before walking up to the diner, where he meets Dez and Jace.

"What took you so long?" Dez asks as they walk inside.

"Some girl stole my spot."

"Who was it?" Jace asks.

"I don't know."

"We know everyone," the brunette reminds him.

"Apparently she's 'vacationing.' She was a total brat," Austin says, sitting down at a table with his friends.

"How long is she gonna be here?" Dez asks.

"Hopefully not long," Austin replies. "Who would vacation here, anyway? I mean, there's hardly anyone or anything to do here."

"Who knows?" Jace says. "Was she hot?"

Austin rolls his eyes. "I don't know. I was busy being mad at her and arguing with her."

"That's too bad."

Just then, Austin's mom walks over with their lunches.

"How were the waves today, boys?"

"Not as good as yesterday," Dez replies, taking a bite of his burger.

"I guess you win some, you lose some," the blonde woman replies. "Austin, you should probably run home after you eat and feed Coco before you come back to work."

"Can you make him a fruit salad? Pretty please?" Austin begs.

His mom rolls her eyes good naturedly. "Fine."

She walks away, and the three friends eat their lunch in a comfortable silence.

"I hope this girl doesn't cause us too much trouble," Austin says when they're finished.

"What is she gonna do, sabotage everything we do?" Jace rolls his eyes. "She'll probably stay out of our way as long as we stay out of hers."

"Good," Austin says with a curt nod.

The three boys finish their lunch and part ways, Dez and Jace going back to the beach and Austin taking the fruit salad his mother made home to Coco.

But as soon as he leaves the diner, he sees the girl from the beach walking up the wooden steps.

"You can have your stupid spot back, Charming," the girl says, brushing past him.

"Just stay out of my way, sweetheart," Austin sneers.

"Or what? You'll smother me in that fruit salad?" the brunette scoffs, nodding at the bowl Austin's carrying.

"Or this vacation will be very unpleasant for you," the blond replies, narrowing his eyes.

"Wow, surfer boy, are you threatening me?"

"Maybe I am, sweetheart," he says, taking a menacing step closer to her.

The girl moves her sunglasses down her nose and looks at him over them. "I'm terrified," she deadpans. Then she brushes past him and walks inside the diner.

Austin clenches his jaw and walks to his house, making his way up to his room to feed Coco. The small monkey scurries over to him as soon as he walks in, expertly climbing up his leg and torso to perch on his shoulder.

"Hey, buddy," Austin sighs, most of his anger diminishing. "Brought you your favorite."

He holds up the bowl, and Coco makes an excited noise. Austin walks downstairs to the kitchen and opens a cabinet. He grabs a bowl that's significantly larger than the one Coco normally uses and fills it with fruit salad, and then he puts the rest of the fruit salad in the fridge. Coco dives into the bowl from his shoulder and starts eating while Austin walks back up to his room.

"I'm gonna head back to the beach," he says to the monkey as he sets down the bowl with Coco inside it. He points to his bedroom door to get his point across to the intelligent monkey.

Coco makes a noise and climbs out of the bowl, making his way over to Austin's nightstand where the green piece of yarn has been pulled off the wall, indicating that Coco is sick of being stuck in his room all day.

"Fine, I'll wait until you're done eating and then you can come. But hurry," Austin says.

Coco must assume that Austin told him he'd wait, because he climbs back down and into the bowl to keep eating.

Austin sighs and relaxes on his bed, turning on the TV to watch while he waits.

A few minutes later, Coco makes a noise and climbs onto Austin's stomach. Austin looks down at the empty bowl.

"Alright, let's go," he says, sitting up.

Coco climbs up to sit on Austin's shoulder, and he busies himself with tugging lightly at the hair behind Austin's ears while Austin walks to the beach.

"Are you stalking me?" he hears next to him.

He turns his head and sees the brunette yet again.

"I think _you're_ stalking _me_ , city girl."

"Ooh, _city girl_ ," she says sarcastically. "What are you, a farmer?"

"Can you just leave me alone?"

"I'm going back to the beach," she tells him. "So maybe _you_ should leave _me_ alone."

"I'm going back to the beach, too. So I guess we're at a standstill."

Coco, confused at the sound of a new voice, climbs across the back of Austin's shoulders and over to the side the girl is on to look at her.

The girl notices him and her face wrinkles in disgust.

" _What_ is that?"

" _This_ is my monkey, Coco."

"It looks like a rat."

"He looks better than you, sweetheart. Smells better, too. Maybe you _shouldn't_ buy your perfume from street vendors, hmm?"

"The perfume I'm wearing costs more than you'll make in a _lifetime_ , Charming."

Coco sniffs at the girl and jumps from Austin's shoulder to the top of her head, which isn't a very big feat considering how much taller Austin is than the brunette.

The girl freezes her jaw dropping.

"Get this _rat_ off my head."

Austin smirks, watching as Coco picks through the roots of her hair in search of bugs.

"Aw, he's just trying to pick the bugs out of your hair."

"There _are_ no bugs in my hair."

"He seems to think otherwise, sweetheart. Besides, I think Coco likes you."

"Get this vermin out of my hair before I have you arrested for illegally keeping a wild animal as a pet," the girl hisses.

Austin rolls his eyes and lifts the monkey off the girl's head, placing him back on his shoulder.

"What is your _problem_?" Austin asks her.

"What's yours?" she replies, combing her fingers through her hair with the same disgusted look on her face.

"My problem is that a random chick just showed up on my beach with no warning, and now it's like she's trying to take over everything I care about."

"Charming _and_ a drama queen. I'm sure you're just _surrounded_ by friends."

"Just leave, won't you?"

"It's not like I _want_ to be here, Charming. My _dad_ dragged me here on vacation."

"Well, tell him to send you and your attitude home."

The girl rolls her eyes. "Just go back to your surfboard, Charming."

"My name is _Austin_ ," he tells her.

"Didn't ask," she replies.

Austin clenches his jaw as he tries to think of a way to get the last word. But when he finally opens his mouth to say something, the brunette is already gone.

* * *

"We had some new customers at the diner today," Austin's dad says as they sit together on the couch and watch a soccer game. "A girl and her dad vacationing from Miami, Ally and Lester Dawson. Seemed pretty wealthy. The girl looked to be around your age."

"Yeah, we've met."

So _Ally_ is her name.

"Lester was polite, but Ally seemed…"

"Like a world class brat?"

"I was going to say quiet," his dad says.

Austin rolls his eyes. "She is _not_ quiet."

"Well, the 'haunted house' you kids used to be so scared of is theirs."

Austin thinks back to when he was a kid. He and all his friends were terrified of the single abandoned house on the island. It stands at the end of the street, and back then it was always locked with all the windows closed tight except one upstairs, where the curtains could always be seen blowing in the breeze.

"So they used to live here?"

"I didn't get their whole life story, son. But I'd assume it's something like that."

Austin purses his lips and nods. "Once again, I am going to avoid that house at all costs."

He walks up to his room and texts Jace and Dez the news his dad told him. Then he collapses on his bed. Coco climbs out of his hammock and onto Austin's chest, curling up into a tiny ball of fur and closing his eyes.

Austin sighs and pets Coco gently, thinking about how much this summer is going to suck if _Ally Dawson_ is here the whole time.

But now he understands why she's so bratty: she's rich. Her parents probably spoil her to death, especially if she's an only child, which it seems like she is.

If he has to spend his entire summer dealing with her and her bratty attitude, he might just go swimming in the ocean and never come back.

* * *

 **Sorry this chapter was so short! It's gonna take a few shorties to get the story going, but don't worry, they'll get longer soon! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Also, I've had a few people asking what kind of monkey Coco is, and I'm gonna say a large-ish pygmy monkey. I haven't done much research on it so I don't know which monkeys live in which habitats but just suspend your disbelief for the sake of Austin with a cute small monkey, yeah? :D**


	3. Chapter 3

"If she's here today, I'm going home," Austin tells Jace and Dez as they walk to their spot on the beach.

"No you're not. Just stay out of her way and I'm sure she'll stay out of ours," Jace says, rolling his eyes.

"Nope, I'm pretty sure she lives to annoy me now," Austin says.

"Don't flatter yourself," Jace replies.

"Hey guys," Trish says, walking up to them with Carrie.

"Tell Austin that the new girl doesn't live to annoy him," Jace says, smiling at his girlfriend.

"New girl?" Carrie asks.

"There's a girl here on vacation with her dad," Dez explains. "Austin says she's a total brat. And she apparently hates Coco."

"Then she must be bad news," Trish says with a nod.

Just then, Austin sees the all-too familiar head of brunette curls walking in their direction.

"Why am I not surprised?" he says, rolling his eyes.

"What?" Jace says.

Austin nods in Ally's direction, and his friends all look at her.

As she approaches, he hears Trish gasp.

"Is that _Ally Dawson_?"

Austin knits his eyebrows. "How did you – "

"Ally?!" Trish calls out to the girl.

Ally freezes, her eyes widening. "Trish?!"

Austin looks at the rest of his friends, and they all look as confused as he is.

"Ally!" Trish squeals, running over to the brunette and hugging her.

Ally hugs her back and actually _smiles_ , something Austin didn't think she was capable of.

Trish pulls away from the hug and grabs Ally's hand, dragging her back over to the group. Ally's smile fades when she sees Austin.

"Don't tell me you're friends with Surfer Boy," she says, looking at Trish.

"I'm dating Jace," Trish replies, gesturing to the boy. "And Jace is friends with Austin."

"Huh. Guess you do have friends, Charming," Ally says, looking at him.

"More than you, I'm sure," Austin scoffs.

"I'm sensing some tension," Trish pipes up.

"She stole my spot at the beach."

"It's not _your_ spot – "

"Yes it is! Everyone knows it!"

"Well – "

"Guys," Trish interrupts. "How about the four of you hang out for a while, and me and Ally can go catch up?"

"Uh…okay…" Austin says. "How do you even know each other?"

"Doesn't matter, Charming. C'mon."

Ally drags Trish away, and Austin looks at Jace, Dez, and Carrie.

"Anyone know how Trish knows the new girl?" he asks.

"No clue," Dez replies.

Austin nods. "Awesome. Well, now that she's gone, do you guys wanna play volleyball or something?"

"Sure. Me and Carrie against you two?" Dez suggests.

Jace nods. "You're on."

The four of them make their way to one of the three volleyball nets set up in the sand. Carrie serves the ball and Austin occupies his mind with focusing on winning the game.

But after an hour Trish comes back with Ally, and Austin has to accept the fact that one of his best friends is, in fact, friends with his new mortal enemy.

"Can we join?" Trish asks.

"Actually," Ally interrupts before anyone can say anything, "I was gonna go tan."

"You sure that's a good idea, sweetheart? You already look like a Cheeto," Austin says.

"Don't be rude," Trish says, smacking his chest. "You don't look like a Cheeto, Ally."

"I know," the brunette says. "Your obnoxious friend clearly just can't handle the feeling of change after doing the same thing every day his entire life."

"And _you_ clearly can't handle the truth," he says, narrowing his eyes.

Ally takes a step closer to him, looking him in the eyes. "If comparing me to a delicious junk food is the only explanation you can come up with for yourself to accept why your friends like me better than you, then so be it."

"Please. They don't like you better than me," Austin scoffs, crossing his arms.

"I do," Trish says, raising her hand.

Ally smiles at him coldly before turning around and walking away. Trish follows her, and Carrie shrugs and goes with them.

"You're kidding," Austin says, watching them go. He looks at Dez and Jace. "You guys see that she's evil, right?"

"She's hot," Dez notes. "She's not Carrie, but…"

" _Dez_!"

"So she's a little bratty, but you brought it upon yourself saying that to her," Jace says with a shrug. Trish seems to like her.

"So neither of you are taking my side on this?" Austin asks.

"Sorry, buddy," Dez says.

"Whatever," Austin mutters, rolling his eyes. "I'm hungry."

"We just ate breakfast," Jace says.

"Well, I'm hungry again," Austin says. "You guys go surf or whatever. I'm gonna go eat."

He walks away before they can reply.

"Hey, honey," his mom says when he walks in the diner. "Where are the boys?"

"Still at the beach. I'm annoyed with them," he replies, plopping down in a booth by the door.

"Uh-oh. What happened?" his mom asks, sitting down across from him.

"They both like the new girl."

"You don't? She and her dad were in here yesterday. They both seemed nice enough. She was quiet."

"She's a total brat," Austin says, rolling his eyes. "She thinks she can come here on 'vacation' and take over my beach and steal all my friends and turn them against me and ruin my life."

His mom chuckles. "Why would she want to do that?"

"I dunno, ask her!"

She gives him a look, and he sighs. "Can I please just have some fries?"

"Coming right up, sweetie," she replies gently, standing up and walking away.

Austin looks around the diner while he waits for his fries, nodding at anyone who meets his eyes. He recognizes them all, of course. Well…except one.

There's a man sitting at a table in the corner of the diner. He has short, gray hair and he's wearing a white collared button-up, which is unusual attire for Lost Isle. He's reading a book and sipping what Austin assumes is coffee, even though it's already ten in the morning.

It must be Ally's dad, since Austin knows everyone else on the island. But this man doesn't look much like Ally at all. And he's just calmly reading a book instead of setting out to ruin Austin's life, so really all he can do is assume that Ally's adopted.

Okay, not really, but if this Lester Dawson is as nice as his parents say, he doesn't understand how Ally could be related to him.

"One order of fries for my favorite son," his mom says, walking back over and setting the food in front of him.

"I'm your _only_ son," Austin reminds her.

"Exactly," she replies, kissing his cheek.

He sighs and wipes the lip gloss off his cheek as his mom walks away. He eats his French fries in silence, tearing his gaze away from Ally's father.

Once he's finished, he stands up and walks out of the diner, not feeling much better than he did when he walked in.

Before going back to the beach, he decides to stop at home and see if taking Coco with him will make him feel any better. The monkey is thrilled to see him, and it does bring up his spirits a bit.

"Remember the girl you met yesterday?" Austin asks as Coco perches on his shoulder. "Everyone likes her. But you know that she's no good, don't you? She called you a rat. And vermin."

Coco doesn't seem interested in what Austin has to say, but Austin doesn't really mind. He arrives at the beach and starts walking to where he, Jace, and Dez put their stuff, but a little ways off he sees the girls laying on their towels and tanning.

He smiles, an idea forming in his mind.

He quietly walks over to where the three bikini-clad girls are. All of them are on their stomachs, their faces buried in their towels. He sees the sheen of tanning oil on Ally's back, and he feels Coco perk up on his shoulder when the coconut scent reaches his nose.

Austin grins, gently lifting Coco off his shoulder and placing him on Ally's back. She must be asleep, because the only reaction she makes is a slight shift in her position.

But then Coco, with his undying love for coconuts, starts licking her back where the scented tanning oil is spread.

The brunette shifts again and then sits up quickly, but Coco quickly scampers up to her shoulder and starts licking the tanning oil there. Ally shrieks and stands up, pushing Coco off her shoulder. But in an attempt not to fall, Coco grabs the back of her swimsuit top, which starts to loosen the tie.

Austin's eyes widen and his laughter stops, and he grabs the monkey before it gets worse.

Trish and Carrie, who sat up when they heard Ally's scream, both give Austin death glares.

" _Charming_ ," Ally hisses through gritted teeth, turning around.

Austin tries to focus on her face and _not_ her loose bikini top. Fortunately Trish notices the problem and helps Ally while she yells at him.

"Coco smelled your cheap tanning oil and I couldn't stop him," Austin says with a smirk, shrugging his shoulders.

"What, you couldn't stop him from _taking off my swimsuit_?!"

"Okay, first of all, I grabbed him before that _actually_ happened, and second of all, that wasn't part of the plan."

Ally glares at him, seeming to be at a loss for words.

"Why would you do that, Austin?" Carrie asks, frowning and standing up. "Ally didn't do anything."

"Are you kidding?! She did everything! She has you guys brainwashed!" Austin exclaims.

Ally rolls her eyes and crosses her arms.

"We were just minding our own business, Austin," Trish says. "Maybe if you weren't so self-centered you'd see that Ally doesn't give a crap about you or your life that you're oh-so positive she's trying to ruin."

Austin glares at Ally. "You may have brainwashed my friends into being your little minions, but I know what you're really like, and I'm not just gonna sit here and let you take over everything I care about."

"Get _over_ yourself!" the brunette exclaims. "Just go back to surfing or whatever and leave us alone!"

"Leave _you_ alone?! Leave _me_ alone! You're the one who's stealing my friends!"

"Maybe because _you're_ being a control freak! Just because you don't like me, doesn't mean your friends have to take your side!"

"I am _not_ a control freak! Trish, Carrie, let's go."

He starts walking away, but his friends don't follow.

"You're not a control freak? Really?" Trish asks.

He turns around. "After she just said all that, you're _still_ taking her side?" he asks incredulously.

"Why are there even sides?" Carrie asks, frowning and tilting her head. "Can't you two just get along?"

Austin looks at Ally. "I'd rather be eaten by a shark."

And then he walks away.

He sets Coco down with his stuff and grabs his surfboard, running into the water to join Jace and Dez.

"Hey, buddy. What took so long?" Dez asks when he paddles out to him.

"Coco wanted to come. And he wanted to say hi to the she-demon."

"You mean Ally?" Jace asks, knitting his eyebrows.

"Guys, c'mon. Can't you tell she's a total brat?" Austin whines.

"I can tell she's rich, and I can tell she's spoiled. But I can also tell that you are _way_ overreacting," Jace says.

"I'm not overreacting! You guys are _under_ reacting!"

"Okay, Austin," Jace rolls his eyes.

"How about we just stop talking about Ally and catch all the good waves before the tide goes down?" Dez suggests.

"I think that's a great idea," Jace agrees.

"Fine. But I _will_ make you guys see Ally for who she really is," Austin promises.

* * *

"So Trish, wanna tell us all how you know Ally?" Jace asks as they stand around the pool table in his back yard.

Austin tries to tune out the conversation and focus on beating Dez at the game, but he's curious too.

"They used to come here every summer when we were younger. Her mom grew up here with my mom, so they introduced me and Ally when we were, like, one year old. We've been best friends ever since. They stopped coming after we turned ten, though. We lost contact after that," the Latina explains.

"Why? Did she ditch you? Sounds like something she'd do," Austin says while Dez takes his turn.

"She wouldn't do that. She's so sweet!" Carrie exclaims.

Austin rolls his eyes.

"Her mom died while they were here," Trish says, looking at Austin coldly.

"That's terrible," Jace says. "Do you know how?"

"She drowned, I think. I don't really know the details," Trish replies.

"She is so _strong_ ," Carrie says, a frown on her face. "Where is she, anyway?"

"I invited her, but she backed out the second she heard Austin was gonna be here," Trish says, giving Austin another look.

He shrugs. "She's a brat."

"She's not a brat," Trish says.

"People change, Trish. You haven't talked to her in what, seven years?"

Trish sighs. "She's still her. This is her first time back here since her mom died. I can't imagine what she must be going through. So just cut her some slack, why don't you?"

"Poor thing. Rich, spoiled, popular. How _terrible_ it is that she has to spend her summer living in the biggest house on a tropical island," Austin scoffs.

"Dude, you're being a jerk," Jace says.

Austin rolls his eyes. "It's all an _act_!" he exclaims. "She isn't this nice person you think she is!"

"I know her better than you do," Trish says.

"You _think_ you do," Austin corrects. "And that just made you the easiest for her to brainwash."

"This is ridiculous," Trish says. " _You're_ ridiculous. And that prank you pulled earlier? What were you _thinking_?!"

"I was thinking that it'd be hilarious to see her reaction to Coco trying to eat that stupid tanning oil she was wearing."

"Yeah, and that was almost the reason she was completely _humiliated_ in front of everyone at the beach!"

Austin rolls his eyes. "I didn't mean for him to almost take off her swimsuit. But I'm sure that wouldn't be the first time something like that has happened to her."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Trish asks angrily.

"All I'm saying is that I don't think the city girl cares all that much about who sees what part of her," Austin says with a shrug.

The Latina clenches her jaw, and if Carrie hadn't pulled her back she probably would've landed Austin in a hospital.

"Maybe you should quit making snap judgments like that, Austin," Jace says. "You sound like a jerk."

"She made snap judgments about me!" he exclaims defensively.

"They're not snap judgments if she has enough to show they're true. And judging from the way you treat her, I'm pretty sure they're all right, whatever they are," Jace says.

Austin rolls his eyes and shoves his forgotten pole in Jace's hands. "Whatever. Finish the game. I'm going home."

None of his friends try to stop him as he walks outside the gate leading to the street and goes home.

* * *

 **sorry for the long-ish wait! I'll try to be more frequent with my updates, but AP testing is coming up and so are finals and so is the due date for my big research paper and...yeah, that probably won't happen. But I promise I'm not giving up on this story and come summer hopefully I'll be able to get you multiple updates per week possibly...? Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter! I love youuuuuuuu**


	4. Chapter 4

"So, is everyone going to Ally's party on Friday?" Trish looks around at each person in the group.

A chorus of slightly nervous 'yes's sounds from their friends as they're met with her cold look.

"No," Austin deadpans.

Trish rolls her eyes. "C'mon, Austin. Everyone in our grade is invited. She even told me that you were on the list, too."

"Why?"

"Her dad's making her throw this party to get to know people better. And you're people."

Austin sighs.

"Everyone else is going," Jace tries.

"I really don't want to. I hate her."

"Hate is a strong word," Dez says.

"She never did anything wrong," Carrie tells him.

"Fine, whatever," Austin says, rolling his eyes. "I'll go to the dumb party. But I'm not talking to her."

"Fine. But you better not ruin this for her, Moon," Trish says, narrowing her eyes at him.

"If you'd just give her a chance – "

"No," Austin interrupts Carrie. The blonde frowns.

Just then, Ally Dawson herself walks up next to Trish.

"Speak of the devil, and she shall appear," Austin mutters under his breath.

"We were just talking about your party," Trish tells the brunette with a smile. "Everyone's coming."

"Everyone," she asks, raising her eyebrow and looking at Austin.

"Don't worry, city girl. It'll be like I'm not even there."

"Aw, but I was so _excited_ to hang out with you," she replies, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Austin rolls his eyes again. "Sorry to disappoint, _sweetheart_ ," he replies with the same amount of sarcasm.

"Anyway, if we don't go now, all the good waves are gonna be gone," Dez interrupts before they can keep bickering. "Ally, wanna come surfing with all of us?"

"No thanks," she replies. "I don't know how."

"We could teach you," Trish offers.

Ally shakes her head, smiling slightly. "You guys go have fun. I was just gonna tan anyway."

"Well…if you insist…" Carrie says hesitantly.

" _Go_ , I'll be fine."

"Great," Austin grins, "let's go!"

With that, he and his friends head into the water, leaving Ally alone setting up her towel on the beach.

"Austin, tell me something," Trish says as they sit on their boards to wait for a wave.

"Groundhogs have two layers of fur," he says immediately.

"What?" She furrows her eyebrows.

"You told me to tell you something," Austin replies. "So I did."

"That's not what I – " Trish stops herself and sighs. "Why do you hate Ally so much?"

Austin rolls his eyes. "That little city brat is taking over my beach, my home, and my friends. Basically my entire life."

"She came here first, you know."

"She never lived here."

"Austin, give her a chance," Trish says.

"No!" Austin exclaims. "You may not see it, but I do. She's a spoiled queen bee whose only wish is to brainwash as many people here as she can so she can entertain herself with little minions while she's stuck here for the summer."

"That's not true."

"Isn't it?" Austin tilts his head, narrowing his eyes. "She's been nothing but rude to me, and she's only nice to all of you because you don't see her for who she really is. She never wants to do anything we do here – "

"Because she isn't _from_ here, Austin. In Miami, they tan more than they surf."

"But she doesn't even wanna _learn_!"

"She's throwing a pool party – "

"Because her dad is _making_ her!" Austin argues. "She's caught up in her city life and her city friends and her city entertainment and she doesn't care about you or anyone else here!"

Trish sighs, giving Austin a cold look. "You know, it's really sad that you're so afraid of change, you can't even _try_ to be friends with a sweet girl who's already friends with everyone else."

Trish paddles away to where Carrie is getting ready to catch a wave, leaving Austin alone with his board.

"I'm not afraid of change," he mutters.

Deciding that he's not really in the mood to surf anymore, he paddles back to the beach.

As he carries his surf board to where he put his towel and shirt, he notices Ally lying on her stomach, not wearing her sunglasses for once, her cheek smushed against her crossed arms and her eyes closed. He sets his board down and walks over to a kid digging a hole in the sand.

"Hey, Jackson," he says to the blond five-year-old.

"Hi, Austin," Jackson replies, staying focused on his digging.

"Mind if I borrow your bucket for a sec?"

"Sure."

"Thanks, buddy," Austin says. He ruffle's Jackson's hair and grabs the blue bucket off the ground, walking down the beach to fill it with water.

Once it's full, he carries it back up to the beach to Ally, and, like the immature jerk he is, he pours it on her peaceful figure.

For the record, he really doesn't care that he's an immature jerk. Because so is she.

Immediately, Ally shrieks and stands up.

"What was that for?!" she screams, her cold brown eyes glaring at him.

"I was just trying to bring water over to my sandcastle to fill in the moat, but I tripped," he says innocently.

The brunette clenches her jaw, looking more frustrated than ever. "This means _war_ , Charming."

"Wow, I'm terrified."

"You know what? I think you _are_ terrified. Because your friends like me better than you and you know it."

"Please," he scoffs, rolling his eyes. "It's gonna take a lot more than a scrawny spoiled brat with a horrible fake tan to shake any of my friendships."

"First of all, my tan isn't fake, but of course that's one of the only insults your tiny little brain can come up with because, like it or not, I'm hot and you know it."

"First of all," he mocks her in a high-pitched voice, "no. You're not. And second, I just don't like fake people."

Ally rolls her eyes. "Whatever, Charming."

She picks up her now-wet towel and her other things and walks away.

* * *

If he could've stayed home, he would've. But instead of his mom supporting him like a mother should when her son rants to her about how the bratty new girl invited him to her pool party just to piss him off (which is the only reason he was invited, he's positive), she instead told him that if he doesn't go he's grounded.

It's ridiculous. He isn't even gonna have any fun. Sure, all his friends are gonna be there, and sure, the pool is huge and has a waterslide, but all the attention is gonna be on Ally. And that will not be fun.

He brought Coco as his plus one, and he doesn't really care if she gets mad about it. In fact, he _hopes_ she gets mad about it. Then maybe she'll kick him out and he can go home.

"Hey buddy!" Dez exclaims, running up to him. "Glad you could make it!"

"Yeah – "

"You brought Coco?" Dez asks, raising an eyebrow and looking at the monkey.

"He's the only one I can trust," Austin says defensively.

"What about me?"

"Do you dislike Ally the way I do?"

"No."

"Then there's your answer."

Dez rolls his eyes. "Whatever. I'm getting back in the pool. Try not to ruin this for everyone."

He runs back to the pool and jumps in, igniting a splash war with the other teens in the water.

"The rat wasn't invited!" Austin hears the unmistakable shrill voice behind him. He turns around to face an angry, bikini-clad Ally.

"Coco's my plus one. And he's a monkey."

"Get that thing out of my back yard."

"Everyone loves him except you, sweetheart. Grow up."

Ally clenches her jaw. "I won't ask again."

Austin shrugs, causing Coco to pull at his hair in annoyance. "Fine by me."

She opens her mouth to say something else, but Coco seems to just realize who Austin's talking to. He freezes on Austin shoulder, and then with one swift leap Coco makes himself comfortable on Ally's shoulder.

It's Ally's turn to freeze, and she glares at Austin. "Get. It. Off."

Austin rolls his eyes and lifts Coco off her shoulder. "I didn't tell him to do that, sweetheart."

Coco makes a noise and grabs Ally's hair, his fingers getting tangled in the curls.

"Ow!" Ally yelps. "Get it off!"

"I'm trying!" Austin tells her. "Calm down."

"Not until that thing is _gone_! Ow!" she winces as Austin tries to pull Coco away again, only causing the monkey's fingers to become even more entangled in her hair.

"Just hold still!" Austin says, holding Coco in one hand and trying to untangle her hair with the other.

"What're you doing?" she asks him.

"His hands are stuck. Quit moving."

Ally rolls her eyes, but she finally stops moving. "Hurry up," she snaps impatiently.

"I could just leave you to figure this out," he snaps back.

"Then I'd throw your stupid rat in the pool."

Austin manages to untangle her hair and he to brings Coco to his chest defensively. "Don't touch my monkey ever again."

"I wasn't trying to! Now get it away!"

"Fine, whatever."

Austin carries Coco over to where Dez left his belongings and sets him down.

"Stay here, okay?" he tells the monkey as he takes off his shirt and shoes. "The city girl might hurt you if you don't."

He gives the monkey one last glance before walking to the snack table, deciding to just hang out here until the party's over.

"You actually came," Trish says, shaking her head as she walks over to him.

"My mom made me."

"Ally told me about her encounter with Coco. She really hates that monkey."

"Another reason for me to hate her."

"Austin, you should give her a chance."

"Nah. I'll just stay over here and eat my watermelon."

He picks up a piece of watermelon and pops it in his mouth to prove his point.

Trish rolls her eyes.

"I just don't understand why you're not over there telling _her_ to give _me_ a chance. She hates me just as much as I hate her."

"This is her party. I'm cutting her slack for today." She walks away.

Austin sighs, looking around the party. His eyes land on Ally, standing next to the pool and talking to Carrie. She's got her big sunglasses on and she keeps running her hand through her brunette curls as if that'll save them from the breeze. Her smile looks cold, but Carrie doesn't seem to be able to tell.

He notices a small dark figure swerving in and out of the crowd, moving in between legs and headed towards Ally. _Coco_.

He debates just waiting to see what'll happen if Coco gets to her, but then he remembers her threat from earlier. He will _not_ let her lay a single perfectly-manicured nail on his monkey.

He walks over to try to grab Coco before Ally makes a scene, but she focuses her attention on him.

"What do you want?" she asks. "Can I not even have a conversation with someone without you being afraid I'm stealing them from you?"

Austin rolls his eyes without saying anything and crouches down to pick up Coco, but Ally seems to think he has something else in mind. She pushes him hard and he yelps as he falls into the pool.

When he swims to the surface, the first thing he sees is Coco staring at him. Then his eyes travel up and he sees Carrie giggling while Ally looks down at him coldly.

"You're gonna pay for that, Sunglasses," he says, hoisting himself back onto the deck.

"Oh, I'm sure," she replies sarcastically as he stands up.

He opens his mouth to make a sarcastic comment back, but then he closes his mouth. After a short hesitation, he says, "You know what? Trish is right. I think I'll give you a chance. Let's hug it out."

"Don't you _dare_ – "

"Aw, come on, sweetheart. This is me making an effort!"

Before she can respond, he wraps his arms around her and pulls her into his soaking wet chest.

"Get off me!" she shrieks, trying to push him away as his wet clothes soak her.

"You give such great hugs," he replies, shaking out his wet hair so the droplets land on her.

"I'm serious!" she exclaims, trying to push against him and break his grip.

"If you say so," he says, letting go of her with a shrug.

She's caught off guard, and in her efforts to break his grip she ends up pushing against him so hard that she stumbles back and falls in the pool.

He smirks down at her while she glares up at him through her wet curls. She grabs her sunglasses before they sink to the bottom of the pool and gets out wordlessly.

Carrie immediately starts fawning over her, telling her how rude he is and how she'll go get her a towel _right away_. Austin rolls his eyes and walks back to where his stuff is. He dries off as much as he can and picks up Coco, who miraculously returned to where he left him.

"This is all your fault," he says to the monkey, placing him on his shoulder. "I can't believe you like her too."

Austin leaves the party without saying goodbye to anyone, and he's pretty sure no one will even notice he's gone.

* * *

 **IT'S OFFICIALLY SUMMER AND I'M FINALLY UPDATING YAY! Hopefully I'll be able to update a lot more frequently now that school's out so be on the lookout! I love you guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

He frantically tears apart his room, going through piles of dirty clothes and discarded pillows, pulling all the blankets off his bed, and even checking in his pillow cases. But Coco is nowhere to be found.

" _Coco_!" he calls again, getting more and more worried by the second. "This isn't funny!"

His parents are already at the diner, but he calls his mom for help anyway.

"Austin? Is everything okay?"

"Coco's gone," he says dejectedly. "Have you seen him?"

"No," his mom replies. "I'm sorry, honey. When did you last see him?"

"Last night when I went to bed. But after I woke up and got ready, I brought him breakfast and he was gone."

"I'll ask around. But I really have to go. We'll find him, I promise."

Austin sighs. "Bye."

He hangs up the phone and looks around his room one more time. Then he calls Dez, Jace, Trish, Carrie, Piper, and pretty much everyone else in his grade. But no one has seen the little monkey.

"Coco, where _are_ you?!" he shouts to no one in particular, collapsing on the couch in the living room.

After allowing himself a few seconds of self-pity, he stands up and walks out the door, hoping that maybe he'll find Coco running around on the street or the beach.

He doesn't want to believe that Coco ran away. Why would he? He has a good life, doesn't he? Austin treats him well, right? What if Coco doesn't like him anymore? What if these past few years of being best friends have finally come to a bitter end and Austin never sees him again?

Austin runs a hand through his hair, trying not to think of any more worst-case scenarios. He calls out Coco's name a few times, keeping his eyes low to try to spot the monkey on the ground.

He's debating whether or not to check the jungle where he first met Coco, when a voice snaps him out of his thoughts.

"Charming. Wake up."

He raises his eyes to meet Ally's annoyed look.

"Look, sweetheart, I'm really not in the mood for you today."

"I'm never in the mood for you. But as much as it pains me, I think I'm about to make your day."

"I seriously doubt that."

The brunette shoves a shoebox with holes poked in the lid into his hands. He looks down at it and then back up at her.

"What's this?" he asks her. "Is it going to explode?"

She rolls her eyes. "Just keep better track of your rat."

Austin knits his eyebrows together in confusion and opens the box. Sure enough, he finds his favorite monkey looking up at him.

"Coco!" Austin exclaims with a grin, lifting the monkey and pulling him close for a hug. He drops the box and moves Coco to his shoulder before pulling Ally in for a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," he says to her.

"Yeah, okay, get off." She pushes him away and straightens out her probably-designer outfit. "I found him sleeping in my room when I woke up. Figured you'd want him back."

"Yeah. I was so – oh my – just – thank you," he stutters, too relieved to think about what he's saying. "I could kiss you right now."

"I will _pay_ you to not do that," she says, looking disgusted.

Austin blinks and holds out his hand. "Pay up or pucker up, sweetheart."

Ally rolls her eyes and shoves past him. "You're not funny," she calls back to him.

"I'm funnier than you!"

She turns around and walks backwards to talk to him. "Yeah! Funny _looking_!"

"You should stop talking to your mirror!"

She rolls her eyes again. "Whatever, Charming!" Then she turns around and walks out of his sight.

He glances at Coco. "Don't give me that look. _You_ were the one sleeping in her room."

Coco sniffs at his neck and looks up at him again.

"It was a figure of speech! I didn't _actually_ mean it!"

Coco keeps staring at him. _Judging_ him.

"You know what, I don't need to take this from you. You're a monkey. And you're in trouble. No smoothies or fruit salad for a week."

Austin walks back home and feeds Coco breakfast. He closes the door to his bedroom so Coco can't get out and goes to work his shift at the diner.

Because yes, he _does_ work there. Occasionally.

Of course, the first table he serves is the one Ally and her dad are sitting at.

"Ah, you must be Austin," Mr. Dawson says, looking up at him when he walks over. "Ally, honey, this is Mike and Mimi's son. They own this diner."

"Oh, we've met," Ally says through a fake smile.

"Then you're one step ahead of me! I'm Lester Dawson." He holds out his hand, and Austin shakes it with a smile.

"Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Dawson."

"Please, we're all friends here. Call me Lester."

"If you insist, _Lester_ ," Austin says, emphasizing his name to annoy Ally.

"Ally and I are visiting here for the summer. We used to come every year, but it's been a while. I heard your family moved here after we stopped coming."

Austin nods. "Yeah. It's always nice having visitors, though, so welcome back. What can I get you?"

"I'll have the seafood sandwich," Lester says, setting down the menu.

"And I'll have a small salad. Dressing on the side."

"Figures," Austin mutters, loud enough so only Ally hears him.

"I have to use the restroom," she says to her dad. She scoots out her chair, and the back of it hits Austin hard in the stomach. He grunts and doubles over. "Oops, I'm so sorry!" she says, exaggerating her apology.

He shoots her a glare while she smiles at him and walks away.

"Are you okay?" Lester asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Austin replies, standing up. "Can I get you and your daughter anything to drink?"

"Waters will be fine," Lester says.

Austin nods. "I'll go put in your orders."

He walks away to the kitchen.

"I hate her," he says to his father.

"Who?"

"Ally Dawson."

"How come? She's so nice and polite."

"That's what everyone says," Austin rolls his eyes. "She's a brat and she's rude and she and I are practically sworn enemies."

"That's a shame. Hey, did you ever find Coco?"

"Yeah."

"That's great! Where was he?"

"Ally's house," Austin mutters. "She brought him to me."  
"See? Nice and polite," Austin's father says with a grin.

Austin sighs. "Whatever. I need a seafood sandwich and a small salad, dressing on the side."

He fills two glasses with water and brings them out to the Dawsons' table.

"Two waters," he announces, setting the glasses down in front of Lester and Ally. "Your food will be out shortly."

They thank him and he walks away again, only to return with their food two minutes later. They eat, pay, and leave, and thankfully Austin doesn't see her for the rest of the day.

* * *

Unfortunately, he _does_ see her at a place and time he had been wishing would never be tainted by her and her city girl attitude. But he should've expected that Trish would invite her to their class's annual summer kickoff beach bonfire.

However, there's enough alcohol here for him to try to drink her out of existence. Except Jace, being the responsible high school graduate he is, doesn't allow Austin to get anything more than a little tipsy. Stupid Jace. He's not even in their class. He shouldn't even _be_ at this party.

In theory, neither should Ally. But there she is, laughing with Trish and Carrie in another stupidly expensive bikini. She hasn't re-worn one since she got here.

He sighs and sits in his beach chair between Dez and Jace, staring at the fire.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Dez asks him. "Why aren't you roasting marshmallows? That's your favorite part of these bonfires!"

" _She's_ here," Austin replies, glaring at Ally.

"Of course she's here. She's our friend."

"She's not _my_ friend," Austin pouts.

"Well…she's everyone else's. So you better get used to her."

Austin rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, watching as Ally takes a sip of Trish's drink and giggles drunkenly. How _dare_ she? She can't just come in here and suddenly be best friends with all _his_ best friends! She's even taking over his _bonfires_! Not to mention she humiliated him by pushing him in the pool at her stupid party!

Suddenly, an idea forms in his head.

"Dude," he says to Dez, "I'm gonna get my revenge."

"What?"

"She pushed me in the pool. I'm gonna get my revenge."

"Didn't she fall in the pool too?" Dez asks.

"Yeah. But I have to _win_. Do you think I can carry her?"

"She looks like she weighs ninety pounds."

"Right. I hope she's ready for a swim."

"Austin, don't."

"I'm gonna do it."

"You don't have proper judgment right now – "

"It's the perfect excuse if things go downhill."

He doesn't wait for Dez to say anything else. He walks over to the table behind where Ally is sitting with Trish and Carrie, pretending to get a marshmallow and a stick to roast it on.

He glances at her once, and then at everyone around the fire. A few of his friends give him odd looks, and he brings a finger to his lips, silently telling them not to give him away.

Then he walks up behind Ally and lifts her out of her chair, throwing her over his shoulder and starting to run towards the water.

"Hey!" she shrieks, pounding on his back with her fists. "Put me down!"

"No! This is payback!"

"For what?!"

"Everything!"

"Charming, put me _down_!"

"Nah."

"Where are we going?!"

"For a swim."

She suddenly freezes, and then her attempts to make him put her down get more frantic.

"Put me down!" she screams. "I'm serious! Don't you _dare_ drop me in that water, do you understand me?! I'm not kidding! Please!"

He smirks. "No thanks."

"I'll do anything! Please!" she shrieks, sounding more and more desperate.

"Anything?" he asks.

"Just – put me down!"

"I will." He arrives at the water and starts walking in, the waves lapping at his ankles.

"Please!" she screams, trying to kick him and still punching his back. "Help!" But everyone on the beach is watching them and laughing. "Austin, I'm not kidding! _Please_!"

He stops, the water at his waist now. She sounds terrified. He debates being nice this time, but then decides against it and drops her in the water.

She screams and disappears under the water with a splash. When she stands up again, she looks around her, and he sees that she actually does look scared. She brings a hand to her mouth and whimpers – are those _tears_? – and runs through the water back to the shore.

But she doesn't go back to the fire. Instead, she runs toward the jungle, leaving a trail of wet sand from the droplets of water falling off her.

Austin frowns and walks back to the fire.

"What did you do?!" Trish asks him angrily.

"I just dropped her in the water, I swear! All I meant to do was embarrass her a little! It was supposed to be funny and make her mad!"

"Well, clearly you did something _very_ wrong. C'mon, Carrie."

Trish and Carrie start going after her, but Austin stops them. "This is my fault. I'll go."

Trish gives him a look.

"To _apologize_ ," he says.

"You're serious?"

"Alcohol has clouded my judgment. So yes."

Then he walks off, following the trail of wet sand into the jungle.

He hears Ally before he sees her, her quiet whimpers ringing clear in the even-quieter jungle. He knits his eyebrows together in confusion and walks up the worn-down path to the Cliff.

She's sitting near the edge, her knees pulled up to her chest and her face buried in them as she tries to muffle her crying. He takes a deep breath and walks over to sit next to her.

"I'm fine, Trish," she says, her voice cracking. "Go back to the party."

"I'm not Trish," he tells her. "But she wanted me to promise you that she will punch me as many times as you see fit."

Ally sniffles and lifts her head to look at him. "What do you want?" she asks.

"I want a lot of things. A private jet would be cool. You're rich, do you have one?"

Ally stares at him, unamused. He sighs.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I didn't mean…I thought it would be funny, push your buttons a little. I didn't realize…"

Ally looks away. "Did Trish tell you how my mom died?"

"She said she drowned."

"Yeah. She still loved surfing, even though she was in her thirties. We were on vacation here and she woke up early to go surfing, even though there was a riptide and everyone was advised not to go in the water." Ally takes a shaky breath. "She washed up on the beach that afternoon."

"Why…" Austin swallows. "Why are you telling me this?"

"So you don't think it's stupid and funny when I tell you that I'm scared of the ocean," she says, looking at him again.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I…I didn't know."

"Yeah, well, it's not like I advertise it."

"That's why you didn't wanna come surfing the other day."

She nods, moving to sit with her legs crossed and staring down at her hands in her lap.

"I forgive you," she says quietly. "I still don't like you. But I forgive you."

"Ditto. But thanks," he replies, keeping his voice low too.

They're silent for a while, and it's oddly peaceful. He can tell she's trying her best to stop crying, but she doesn't appear to be very successful.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" he tries changing the subject.

"What?"

"How'd you know about this place?"

"My mom used to take me here," she replies, her voice catching again.

Austin swallows. Bad subject change. He wishes she'd stop crying so he could think of a way to make her stop crying.

"How…how did you know I was here?" she asks, lifting her head to look at him.

"I could hear you from a mile away. You're disturbing the jungle music."

She sniffles, not speaking for a few seconds. She's probably trying to decide whether to be insulted.

"What jungle music?"

"The nightlife."

"There's no nightlife."

"Yes there is. There are…frogs."

"Frogs?"

"Mmhm."

She wipes her face again, giving him a strange look. "There are no frogs here."

"Yes there are. They came about a year after I moved here. Lovely family, the Croakingtons. They moved in about half a mile that way." He points in a random direction.

"What?"

"True story. Their friends came after, and now we have a lovely frog society spicing up our jungle at night."

"There aren't any frogs, Charming."

She called him Charming. That's a good sign. He keeps going.

"Are too. Hundreds. They made me their king."

She snorts, and he grins in victory. "You're making all of this up."

"I'd be careful what you accuse me of, sweetheart. One ribbit and you'll have a frog army on you before you can even _blink_."

She snorts again, even laughs a bit, and shoves him lightly. "You're an idiot."

"Don't make me do it, city girl," he says, trying to keep a serious face. "They'll smother you in slime. Ever said you had a frog in your throat?"

She nods.

"Well, you'll feel that on a _whole_ new level," he tells her.

"Tell your little frog army that I'm not afraid of them," she giggles, standing up.

He stands up too, smiling in spite of himself. "Oh, now you've done it. They're gonna attack all on their own. I don't even have to call them now. It'll be all your fault."

"I'm so scared."

"You better start running, Sunglasses. They're already on their way."

"I hope you choke on frog slime," she tells him, darting off.

He grins and runs after her, passing her easily. "Eat frog legs, city girl!" he calls behind him, turning his head so she can hear him better.

Unfortunately, he doesn't see the fallen tree trunk in front of him, so he trips over it and falls on his face, feeling the twigs on the ground scratch up his bare torso.

"Better call your army for help!" she giggles, leaping over the tree and sprinting ahead of him.

He curses under his breath and stands back up, running after her again. "How _dare_ you speak that way to a _king_?!" he exclaims.

He hears her laughing not far ahead of him, and in between half of him telling him he has to beat her in this race while the other half is telling him that he's supposed to hate her, a tiny part of him thinks for a moment that her laughter sounds like a pretty song.

He finally catches up to her just as they reach the beach. He runs up behind her and wraps his arms around her, lifting her up off the ground.

"Hey!" she exclaims. "Put me down!"

"Say that I, Austin Moon, Frog King, am the _true_ winner of that race!"

"Fine! You're the winner of the race! Put me down!"

"You forgot my title."

"The king of the frogs that don't exist on this island!"

"Good enough." Austin shrugs and sets her down.

"By the way, _I_ won that race." She grins at him and runs back to the fire.

"Hey! You can't do that!" He runs after her.

"Too late, I already did!"

They're back at the fire now, but they're both ignoring the other people there.

"Whatever, you cheated! We're gonna have a rematch! Don't know when, don't know where, but _you_ " – he points to her – "you are going to see that you are nothing but a giant loser-face!"

"You should stop talking to your mirror," she teases, mocking him from a few days ago.

"You think you're _real_ funny," he says, sitting back down in his chair.

"I _know_ I'm funny. And I know _you're_ still funny _looking_." She sits down, ending the conversation.

He narrows his eyes at her until Dez taps his arm. He looks over.

"Dude. What just _happened_?"

"I lost the race because she cheated."

"You two are _getting along_."

"Oh, yeah. Probably won't last. But I apologized and made her feel better."

"Look at you, getting all mature," Dez says proudly, nudging him.

"Please. I still don't like her. I just did what I was supposed to do and fixed my mistake."

"I'm so proud of you," Dez tells him.

Austin rolls his eyes. "Whatever."

He looks over at Ally again, and she's smiling and laughing with Trish and Carrie, just like before. Except for now, it makes him kind of happy.

* * *

 **this chapter was fun to write :D but don't think that it's all uphill from here! because it isn't! spoiler alert! anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for reading and I love you lots!**


	6. Chapter 6

"Wait, so you guys were at the _Cliff_?! Why didn't you say that?!"

"Because I knew that you guys would freak out and think something happened," Austin says, rolling his eyes.

Jace splashes some water at him. "Did something happen?"

"Nothing happened, I swear."

"But you two are friends now," Dez says, paddling closer to Austin and Jace after his board drifts away a bit.

"Absolutely not," Austin says immediately. "Not friends. We don't like each other. We just had a truce for those few minutes and it was kinda nice."

"So you're just…back to normal," Dez says with a frown.

"Probably. I didn't see her yesterday and I haven't seen her yet today, but I don't know why we wouldn't be back to normal."

"Because you guys could be _friends_ now!" Dez exclaims.

"That _would_ make things easier for all of us," Jace reasons.

"She's still taking over everything I know and love. I'm not just gonna be friends with her to make things easier. We're still at war."

"But she isn't as bratty as you think she is!"

"Now you're lying," Austin says.

"What if you teach her how to surf or something?" Dez suggests. "Bond and stuff."

Austin thinks back to the other night when Ally told him about her fear of the ocean. "Yeah, that won't be happening."

"Don't be stubborn," Jace says.

"I'm not. I just know she would never wanna do that."

"Just because she said it that one day – "

"Her dad thinks it's too dangerous," he lies, deciding that he probably shouldn't be going around blabbing about her biggest fear to everyone. "After her mom drowned, he doesn't want her really going near the ocean. She's kinda mad at him over it."

"How do you know that?" Jace asks.

"She told me the other night. When we were talking at the Cliff. That's why she freaked out when I threw her in the water."

"Her dad wasn't even there."

"She may be a brat, but she's obedient." Austin shrugs.

"Whatever," Dez says, rolling his eyes.

Austin nods, feeling proud that his friends bought his story. He knows it probably wouldn't be a _huge_ deal if he told them the truth, and really it would be the perfect opportunity to embarrass Ally a little, but he kind of likes having this little secret of hers to keep.

After surfing for a while, the three boys paddle back to shore, only to meet the girls walking along the sand. Jace and Dez hug their girlfriends, leaving Austin and Ally to just nod at each other in greeting.

"Hey Ally, Austin told us about your dad. Kinda sucks that he won't let you in the ocean, but I guess it makes sense that he wouldn't wanna lose you after what happened with your mom," Dez says.

Austin swallows and looks at Ally. She looks absolutely lost.

But then she recovers and understands what's going on, so she says, "Yeah, you guys look like you have so much fun. I've been trying to convince him to let me, but…" she trails off and shrugs.

"Maybe he'll loosen up as the summer goes on," Jace says hopefully.

"Fingers crossed," Ally replies.

Then the conversation shifts. But Ally catches Austin's eye and mouths, _Thank you_. He shrugs in reply.

"Do you guys wanna head over to the diner and get some lunch?" Jace suggests.

"Yes. Lunch," Carrie says with a nod.

"Sure, I just have to stop at home and grab something," Ally says. "I'll meet you guys there?"

"Someone go with her to keep her company," Dez says.

"I'm fine – "

"Austin, you go!" he exclaims.

"I _definitely_ don't need _him_ – "

"Too late, we're leaving," Jace says. He and Dez wrap their arms around their girlfriends and start walking away. But Austin doesn't miss the beginning of their conversation. "They were at the Cliff the other night…" Jace's voice trails off.

Ally looks at him. "Let's make this quick, Charming."

Together they start walking to her house in silence. Until she breaks it. "Jace was talking about Crescent Cliff like it was some big deal," she says. "That _was_ what he was talking about when they were walking away, right?"

"Mmhm," Austin nods. "You guys have your thing about the back row in the movie theater, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"Well, that's what the Cliff is for us. So I made the mistake of telling them that's where we were talking, and now they're gonna start rumors that we weren't _just_ talking."

"You're kidding."

Austin shakes his head. "Hopefully everyone knows that I wouldn't be caught _dead_ – "

"That _you_ wouldn't be caught dead? How about that _I_ wouldn't be caught dead! _You're_ the jerk!"

"And _you're_ the brat!"

"So it's settled then. We'll put those rumors to rest as soon as possible and never speak of our conversation the other night again."

"Fine."

"Perfect."

"Just go get whatever it is I came with you to get," Austin says, rolling his eyes as they stop in front of her house.

It doesn't look nearly as haunted as it used to. But now instead of a ghost living inside it, there's a demon living there, with the sole purpose of ruining his life.

"You didn't _have_ to come with me," she grumbles, storming inside.

He wishes he really did have a frog army to attack her.

She returns a few minutes later wearing different clothes and carrying a small book.

"What's that?" he asks her. "Your _diary_?"

"It's a photo album," she tells him. "Trish wanted to see it."

"Sure it is."

Ally rolls her eyes. "I don't care what you think it is, Charming."

"Do you write down all your problems in there?"

"Problems? If you wanna talk about problems, just remember that your best friend is a _monkey_."

"Aw, you didn't call him a rat! Congrats on finally learning how to tell your animals apart!" He gives her a mock applause.

The brunette clenches her fists in annoyance. "Can you keep your mouth shut for five minutes? Or do you constantly have to validate your presence by making irrelevant comments?"

"Oooh, big words. I'm proud of you, city girl. You actually made yourself sound smart for a second."

Ally stops walking. "I'm sorry, where does my intelligence come into play here?"

"Listen, sweetheart. I know you think you're all that, but I also know that you're rich enough to hire people to learn for you."

"At least I'm getting my education in the real world and not on some island so small that GPS can't even find it." Then she sets her jaw and shoves past him.

He must've hit a nerve. He tries to feel good about it. That's his goal, isn't it? But he can't help but feel a little guilty. She probably has so much going on that he doesn't even know about.

He follows her into the diner silently, and he sits down as far away from her as possible at the table.

"So how'd it go?" Dez asks him.

"Back to normal," Austin says with a nod. "Just like I said it would be."

"Oh, that's…that's too bad," Dez frowns.

"Don't be too upset over it, buddy," Austin says, patting Dez's back.

"So you're not even gonna _try_ to be friends with her?" Jace asks.

"Nope." Austin shakes his head.

"Austin, that's pretty immature."

"Okay, Jace, I don't need one of your speeches. You're older, you're graduated, we get it. That doesn't make you better than anyone else."

Jace purses his lips and nods, glancing at Dez and widening his eyes.

"I saw that," Austin says childishly. "I'm still here, you know."

"Dez, did you hear something?" Jace says.

"Not really," Dez replies, catching on.

"Guys, that's not funny," Austin complains.

"Aw, are the boys being mean to you?" Trish pouts at him.

"Shut up, Trish," Austin says, crossing his arms.

He used to be the butt of everyone's jokes when they were younger and he first moved here. It took him a couple years to earn his rightful place in the already-established and closely-bonded group of friends that had formed between the kids his age who were born on the island and grew up together. But the thought is always there that he'll never _truly_ belong, and at moments like these the voice constantly whispering that exact statement to him is louder than usual.

"Why don't you get your frog army to come take down all your big bad friends?" Ally pouts, following everyone's lead.

Her thinking she can just join in with everyone sends him over the edge.

"You can shut it," he says, pointing to her. He stands up from the table. "You can all shut it."

Then he walks out.

He expects someone to follow, to tell him that they were just joking around and that they're sorry, to ask him to come back and to promise they won't do it again. But no one comes.

He gets all the way home, and not even Coco excitedly scurrying onto his chest after he collapses on his bed makes him feel better. In fact, it makes him feel worse.

"You betrayed me for _her_ ," he says, petting the monkey's fur. "You're no better than the rest of them. Except you can't talk. So you can't make fun of me. And I saved your life. So you owe me."

He keeps petting Coco until his eyes start getting droopy, and he's about to put Coco in his hammock, but as soon as he tries to get up he falls right back down again, fast asleep.

* * *

"I thought our conversation from the other night was never to be spoken of," he says, walking up to where she's lying on her towel at the beach. "You made me look like an idiot."

"As one tends to do when they don't like someone."

"You know, I said all of that to cheer you up."

"Life sucks," Ally replies. "You're blocking my sun."

"You're already stealing my friends. And now you're turning them against me?"

"Charming, you need to stop being so sensitive," she says, sitting up and looking at him over her sunglasses. "They were just teasing you."

"Yeah, well, I don't appreciate it."

She watches him for a second and then nods, pushing her sunglasses back up to her eyes. "I see what your deal is."

"I don't have a deal."

"Sure you do. You moved here, what, five, maybe six years ago?" He doesn't say anything. "We'll say you moved here six years ago. This is a small island, which means the kids here are a pretty tight-knit group of friends. So, as a newcomer, you had to work pretty hard to prove yourself. And until then, they probably made fun of you a lot, yeah? But eventually you finally managed to fit in with them and feel like you had validated your place in their group. The jokes stopped and if you tried hard enough, you could pretend you'd known them your whole life. Then I came along and apparently pulled everything out from under you, and your dislike for me made you an outcast again so now you're scrambling to validate yourself once again, but in doing so you're actually making it worse. And that's why you hate me, isn't it? I'm not _stealing_ anything from you. You're just being reminded of how much you didn't fit in when you first moved here, and how you probably never truly will."

She smiles up at him coldly, and he crosses his arms. He hates her for being so right.

"Just stay out of my way," he says.

"So I'm right."

"I didn't say that."

"But I am."

"If you could get out of your own little bubble of self-absorption for _two seconds_ , maybe you'd be able to see that you're irrelevant to everyone here. You're here for _one summer_. And then you're gonna leave, and everything is gonna go back to the way it was before you came, and everyone is gonna forget about you because believe it or not, _sweetheart_ , you. Don't. Matter."

She looks a little rattled from his statement, and he smirks down at her. But then she regains her composure and stands up, glaring up at him with those cold brown eyes.

"Then why are you so afraid of me?" she asks, her voice low and sickly sweet.

He sets his jaw and gets ready to make a retort when Trish walks up.

"Hey, guys," she says, setting her stuff down next to Ally's. "Austin, can you stop pestering her for once?"

" _She_ – "

"You walked over here, Charming," Ally says with a shrug.

Austin tries to argue, but Trish interrupts. "And now you can walk away. Goodbye."

Austin grinds his teeth in frustration while Ally gives him an annoying wiggle of her fingers and a too-sweet smile.

He marches away, cursing her existence.

* * *

 **I'm actually ahead on writing so maybe you guys will possibly get some regular updates every few days...? As always, thanks for reading! I love youuuuuu!**


	7. Chapter 7

It started as just another argument. He's used to their back-and-forth game by now, and though the frustration and anger at her is still there each time, he finds it harder and harder to fight with her. Ever since she practically figured out his entire life story starting when he moved to the island up until now, he feels like she has some overbearing advantage over him that she's constantly dangling over his head, using nothing but her cold glares and sarcastic smiles to remind him of it.

It isn't fair. All he has is her secret fear of the ocean due to her mother's drowning when she was ten. And he knows it's insensitive to consider this a competition, but it's not his fault she always seems to have to one-up him.

So, in the heat of the moment after she calmly reminded him of his fragile place in his friend group, he yelled at her that her mother must be ashamed of the person she's become.

Naturally, that hit a nerve and she ran off.

That was this morning. He immediately went home and spent the day cooped up in his room, not wanting to face anyone for fear that they would know he upset Ally again and make him go talk to her. And while he knows the right thing to do is apologize, he's not quite ready to yet. Because this time he can't hide behind the excuse of not knowing that comment would hurt her. He knew full well that bringing up her mother like that would hit home. It was a low blow, and they both know it.

He's kind of relieved that the guilt has been eating away at him all day. He'd be worried about his own state of mind if he felt no remorse for that comment. Still, he doesn't enjoy the knot churning in his stomach as he tries to focus on the lame sitcom playing on his TV.

Coco crawls onto his chest and sits on his back legs to look at him. He sighs.

"I know I have to go talk to her. I just don't want to."

Coco sniffs at him and picks at his shirt.

"It's just…real this time. It's not some petty dislike. I actually hurt her. It's personal and I know that. But what do I even say? 'Hey, I'm sorry I told you that your mom would be ashamed of you?' That's lame. She'll never forgive me."

Coco curls up on his chest and closes his eyes. Austin glances at the ocean outside his window lit up by the late afternoon sun and sighs.

"I don't deserve your love," he mutters, lifting Coco off his chest and placing him in the hammock. "I'm gonna go talk to her. If I'm not back in two hours, call Dez."

He walks out, knowing exactly where to find Ally.

When he gets closer to the Cliff, he can hear her voice. It isn't the annoying, shrill, sarcastic tone he's used to. Instead she sounds like she's been crying, and she sounds lonely…almost _desperate_.

"I know…I know I haven't been the best daughter," she says, her voice cracking and quiet. "You always wanted me to grow up being the best person I could be, and – and I haven't been doing that very well. I'm…I'm still doing well in school. And I have lots of friends. But…dad spoiled me a lot after you died. I guess he wanted to grieve alone, so…so he gave me whatever I wanted. And he never stopped. So I got used to it and now…" She sniffles. "He was right. You _would_ be ashamed of me. I'm so sorry, mom."

She breaks down in tears again and he presses his lips together in a tight line, _really_ hating himself for what he said.

He walks over to her, feeling even worse than he did the first time he did this. He sits down next to her and tries to think of something to say to make this better.

"I have been…dethroned as Frog King," he tries lamely.

"I'm not in the mood," she deadpans, her voice muffled by her knees.

"I'm…sorry," he says, debating whether or not she'd feel better if he just hurled himself off this cliff instead of trying to talk to her.

"Did they make you say that?"

"All me," he replies. "Partly Coco. He, uh, he feels partially responsible because of a few incidents from these past couple of weeks. But mostly me. All me for this particular situation…"

She finally lifts her head to look at him. Her cheeks are streaked with tears, and her eyes are red and puffy, and _wow_ he's a jerk.

"You were right," she says with a shrug, her voice catching at the end. "You were right. My mom would be ashamed at the person I've become since she died. I get whatever I want and I take advantage of that. I'm rude and obnoxious, and I don't care about anyone but myself. I'm conceited and – "

"Hey, stop," Austin says. "I was just saying that to get to you. I'm the jerk. You're not…I didn't mean it."

"I'm sure you did mean it. The point is, I grew up promising to myself that I would make my mom proud. And after she died, I started breaking that promise."

"I'm sure she'd be proud of you."

"Have you ever heard of a charity organization called Pennies?"

Austin's a bit surprised at the subject change, but he nods. "Yeah. They collect donations for kids in impoverished countries and countries hit by natural disasters. We have donation boxes in all the schools here. We usually fill up like one every week."

"Yeah, they do really great work, huh? They've become a national organization. But they originated right here on this island."

"Really? How do you know that?"

"My mom is the founder. Penny Dawson."

"Oh…wow."

Ally nods, looking out at the sun setting over the ocean. "Yeah. She believed that life was about helping people. She dedicated her entire life to starting Pennies. Her partner is the head of it now, but…she was the one who had the idea, who really started it."

"She sounds amazing."

"She was. It's a lot to live up to." Ally pauses for a few seconds. When she speaks again, her voice is shaky. "How do I make her proud if she founded an organization that's saving millions of children's lives, and all I do is lounge on the beach all day and worry about whether or not my swimsuit matches my nails?"

Austin looks over at her. She's changed in the past couple of weeks since she got here. He didn't really notice it, but now that he's not trying to come up with his next comeback, he realizes that she's grown into the island a bit. She's still wearing a probably-overpriced bikini like she has been, but now she's ditched her designer sundresses for a plain, sheer white sweater with sleeves that cover her hands. She didn't curl her hair today, instead leaving it in the natural beach waves he's learned to associate with the girls on the island. She stopped overdoing her makeup, and if he didn't know any better he would mistake her for someone who actually lives here.

"You're her daughter. I'm sure she'd be proud of you no matter what."

She looks at him. "How? I haven't done anything worth her pride."

"Then change that," Austin says with a shrug. "Do something that'll make her proud."

"I can't just start a charity organization."

"Start small. Start with you."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I'm not your mom. Or you. But maybe something that says 'I'm ready to make a change.'"

"Something out of my comfort zone, you mean."

He looks out at the sunset. "I mean, not necessarily. I really shouldn't be telling you what would or wouldn't make your mom proud of you. That's really a _you_ thing, y'know?"

"You're not telling me what to do. You're giving me advice."

" _Me_ giving _you_ advice. Who knew?"

He can see her looking at him out of his peripheral. "Advise me. Please."

"I don't know what to tell you, Sunglasses. I think it's up to you to decide how to tell your mom you're ready to do whatever you can to make her proud."

"Maybe…doing something that I've been stopping myself from doing because I've been focusing too much on my image?" She shifts next to him.

"Sure, yeah." He smirks, watching the sun disappear below the horizon. "If this is your way of saying you'll help me regain my position as Frog King, let me just say that – "

She cuts him off, and it happens so quickly that he hardly has time to process what's going on. She grabs his chin and turns his head to face her, and then she kisses him, all in one swift motion.

Initially, he freezes in shock, his eyes wide as he stares down at her, her eyes screwed shut. But he finds himself relaxing, inhaling and closing his eyes, kissing her back. His eyebrows are knit together in confusion; he has _no idea_ what's going on. But…well, he can figure that out later.

He cups her cheek with one hand, his fingers getting tangled in her hair while she moves her hand from his chin to the side of his neck.

He doesn't know _why_ he's kissing her back – or, at least, he doesn't want to _admit_ it – but judging by the way she rests her free hand on his shoulder as she moves closer to him and deepens the kiss, she knows exactly what she's doing and why she's doing it. And that kind of scares him, but mostly he's confused and a little thrilled, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

He feels like he's getting away with something, like he's doing something he shouldn't be. But in his defense, she kissed him first.

She pulls away slowly, and at first he follows her instinctively, trying to reconnect their lips, but then he stops himself and she leans her forehead against his.

They sit in silence, their ragged breathing and the waves crashing below the Cliff the only sounds to be heard. She's practically in his lap, and he knows she hasn't opened her eyes yet because he feels her long eyelashes brushing against his cheekbones. He doesn't open his eyes, doesn't move, because he knows that the second he does this moment will be over, and they'll either have to talk about it or awkwardly part ways, preparing for the unknown future that awaits. He's afraid to let this moment end.

She swallows. "Well…say something," she whispers.

"I…don't think kissing some jerk at you and your mom's special place is the kind of thing that'll make her proud…" he whispers back.

She laughs breathlessly. "You said it was my decision."

He laughs too. "I think I expected you becoming Frog Queen more than I expected that."

She laughs again, and he knows that she must be _freaking out_ right now. He knows he is.

"Sorry," she says.

"You don't have to apologize."

She pulls away more, and he opens his eyes, meeting her gaze. For once, her eyes aren't cold.

"So…you feeling better?" he asks her.

"I'm scared to say yes because of your ego. That had nothing to do with making me feel better."

"I'm wounded," he says, letting go of her cheek to place his hand over his heart.

She chuckles. "Thank you for making me feel better. Even though you being a jerk is the reason we're here in the first place."

"I'm sorry – "

"It's okay," she interrupts him. "I'm…kind of glad you said what you said. I needed a wakeup call."

He presses his lips together.

He can still taste her lip gloss.

"So…you've been wanting to kiss me for a while…?"

"I'm not talking about this. Nope." She shakes her head and stands up. He follows. He can't see her very well because it's dark now, but he's pretty sure she's blushing.

"Fine. What do we do now?"

"Go back to normal?"

"I don't think I'd be able to take you seriously after what you just pulled, sweetheart."

She narrows her eyes at him. "Then I guess we're friends, Charming."

"Friends. With the person who's stealing everything I care about."

She rolls her eyes. "You're still on that?"

He shakes his head. "Nah."

"So…we _are_ friends."

"Guess so."

"By the way, we're never speaking of what happened here."

"What happens at the Cliff, stays at the Cliff," he agrees.

"I still don't like you, Charming."

"Ditto."

She nods, and they stand there for a few beats of an awkward silence.

"Hey, uh, I'm pretty sure everyone went to go night surfing at the beach. Wanna go?"

"You know I don't surf."

Austin shrugs. "I don't have my board, anyway. We could go just to hang out."

"Okay," she says with a nod.

Together, they walk back down to the dark beach and find their friends' belongings sitting in the sand. They walk down near the water to look for them.

But Ally hesitates a few yards away from the waterline. Austin frowns and walks back over to her.

"I'm fine here," she says, messing with the hem of her sweater. "You don't have to stay."

"You can come closer without touching the water," he says.

She shakes her head. "I'll just stay here. To be safe."

He watches her. "You sure?"

"Mmhm." She nods. "Positive."

He sighs and stands next to her in silence, listening to the faint sounds of his friends laughing in the water.

He isn't sure how long they stand there, but he doesn't really care. It's peaceful. And with the ghost of her kiss still on his lips and the question of what happens next hanging over his head, he's got a lot to think about.

* * *

 **So...I hope you guys liked this chapter... ;))))) No but seriously, I hope you guys liked it because I like it very much. Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

"No, all I'm saying is that I think we should have a name for ourselves," Dez says, in the middle of a discussion with Jace about whether or not they should have a name for their friend group.

"You're an idiot," Jace tells him.

"How about _The Three Idiots_?" Dez suggests.

"You want us to call ourselves idiots," Jace says, raising his eyebrows.

"If I'm an idiot, so are you and so is Austin."

"I want no part in this conversation," Austin says. "I just wanna eat my pancakes and enjoy my Saturday." He takes a bite of his mom's homemade pancakes to prove his point.

"Whatever," Dez says. "Hey, the girls are here."

Austin turns around and to see Trish, Carrie, and Ally walk into the diner. They all wave – Dez or Jace must've waved them over – and walk over to the table.

Trish and Carrie pull up chairs on each end of the table next to their boyfriends, leaving Ally stuck sitting by Austin.

Austin doesn't say anything, too busy chewing his bite of pancakes.

"So, what've you girls been up to this fine morning?" Jace asks, kissing the back of Trish's hand.

"We both slept at Ally's last night, so we were just getting ready and we came here for breakfast," Trish says.

"Did you do something different with your hair?" Dez asks Ally.

"I stopped curling it," she says.

"It looks pretty."

"Thanks," she replies, picking up a menu. "So I haven't eaten breakfast here yet. What's good?"

"Depends on what you're in the mood for," Trish says. "If you wanna go healthier, the omelets are really good. But if you wanna actually _live_ , then you should try their pancakes, which Austin is so attractively drowning himself in."

"Pancakes are my favorite part of the day," he says defensively, maple syrup drizzling down his chin. Trish rolls her eyes while he grabs a napkin to clean himself.

"How charming," Ally says sarcastically.

"Funny," Austin deadpans. "Just let me eat my pancakes in peace."

"I am," she says. "But the way you're eating them doesn't look very peaceful. Trish, I think I've lost my appetite."

Austin rolls his eyes and flings some syrup off his fork and onto her arm.

"Ew!" she shrieks, grabbing a napkin to wipe it off.

"Mature," Jace says, looking at Austin.

He shrugs, cutting himself another bite of his pancakes. But before he can eat it, Ally grabs the salt shaker off the table and covers the food on his fork with salt. He looks at it, then at her.

"That was the most immature thing you have ever done. And you are the most immature person I have ever met."

She gives him a sarcastic smile.

"Eat it," he says, turning the salt-covered bite of pancake towards her.

"No thanks," she replies.

"Eat it," he repeats, pushing the fork towards her mouth.

She grabs his wrist to stop him. "I'm not eating that."

"Eat it!" he exclaims, trying to use his free hand to get her to let go of him. But she just grabs that wrist with _her_ free hand to stop him.

"No!" She leans back to dodge the fork he's still pushing in her direction, looking disgusted.

"Austin stop," Trish says, rolling her eyes.

"Not till she eats this ruined bite of pancake!" he says, smiling as he keeps trying to feed the salty pancake to Ally.

"Stop!" she shrieks, her arms shaking as he pushes against them. But she's starting to laugh now, even though he can tell she's trying to be serious.

"Eat the pancake!"

" _Charming_!"

He must be pushing too hard, because suddenly she falls off the chair, and his momentum causes him to fall on top of her, the fork clanking on the ground and the bite of pancake falling to the floor.

But he doesn't care about the dirty fork or the lost pancake; in fact, he's laughing so hard that he doesn't even remember them. And judging from how much harder _she's_ laughing, she probably forgot about them too.

"Are they laughing or crying?" Dez whispers.

"I don't know…" Carrie whispers back.

Focusing on that one tiny conversation brings him back to the real world, and his laughter stops as his breath hitches at their close proximity. His mind flashes back to last night at the Cliff.

Her laughter dies down too, and she swallows. Her eyes flit down to his lips, just for a split second – if he had blinked right then, he would've missed it.

"Alright, Charming, get off me," she says, pushing on his chest.

He clears his throat and stands up, offering his hand to help her. She smacks it away and stands up herself, and he rolls his eyes.

"What just happened?" Carrie asks, knitting her eyebrows together in confusion.

"We fell," Austin says lamely, sitting back down again. Ally snorts, sitting down beside him.

Jace raises his eyebrows at Austin, and he shrugs. "Blame her," he says, jerking his head in Ally's direction. "City girl has no upper body strength, whatsoever."

"I could beat you up if I wanted to," she says defensively.

"Sure. If I was six," he replies. "You made me drop my fork. Get me another one."

"Just ask your mom when she comes to take our orders," Ally replies.

"Too long. You owe me. Go now."

"I'm not walking all the way over there to get you a fork," Ally says.

"Please?" he says, giving her his best puppy dog eyes.

She rolls her eyes, standing up and walking to the counter on the other side of the diner.

"Wait, she just…" Dez says, looking confused. "She just did that. She gave in."

"What did you do to her?" Carrie asks Austin. He shrugs and avoids her accusatory glare.

"I didn't do anything to her," he says.

If anything, _she_ did something to _him_. Ever since last night, he hasn't been able to stop thinking about her or what his feelings for her might be. It's throwing off everything for him. This summer, he was supposed to _avoid_ feelings like this. One more thing to add to his ever-growing list of reasons why Ally is screwing up his summer.

Except this one, he doesn't really mind. But to him, that's the worst part of it.

"Wait, I have a serious question," Trish says.

"I didn't do anything to her," Austin tells her.

"No, not that. What's the deal with you guys? Have you finally stopped hating each other?"

"You could say that," Austin says, watching Ally come back and sit down, handing him a fork and still holding one for herself.

She grabs his plate and moves it so it's sitting between them, cutting off a piece of his pancakes for herself.

"You're kidding, right?" Austin says incredulously, raising his eyebrows at her. "These are my pancakes. Get your own pancakes."

She starts chewing on her bite angrily. "No. I'm mad."

"Okay, well, these are still my pancakes." He pulls the plate back in front of him. Still, she reaches over and cuts herself another bite, despite his efforts to move her hand away.

"I know what you did to her," Dez sing-songs to Austin.

Ally looks at Austin angrily. "What is he talking about?"

"I didn't say anything!"

"Yes he did!" Dez exclaims. "I know what you did."

"Charming!"

"I didn't say anything, Sunglasses! I swear!"

"Then why is he saying – "

"I don't know!"

"Dez, do you know or not?"

"I do know," the redhead says with a nod. "Austin told us earlier you two were at the Cliff again. So obviously you made out."

He looks up at Dez, his heart pounding. He can see Ally looking at him out of his peripheral.

"Yes, Dez. That's exactly what happened," he says.

The table is silent for a few seconds, but then Dez suddenly starts laughing, and slowly everyone else gets the "joke" and starts laughing too.

"I thought you were serious for a second!" Trish exclaims, grinning at Austin.

"Yes, because she would kiss me," Austin replies sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Are you saying _you_ would kiss _her_?" Jace asks, raising his eyebrows.

"I'm gonna give you a chance to think about how stupid that question is and take it back before I answer it."

"Fair enough," he says, putting his hands up in mock surrender.

After the girls eat breakfast, the six of them start walking to the beach. Austin and Ally walk a little ways behind the group.

"I'm going to _kill_ you," she tells him.

"I saved us back there," he reminds her.

"You're also the reason that conversation happened in the first place."

"Actually, I'm not. _Carrie_ asked what I did to you to get you to listen to me."

"Well…you started it."

He rolls his eyes. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm not gonna tell anyone."

He does his best to act annoyed with her and her stupid requests, but in reality he doesn't want anyone knowing either. But not because of what people would think. He likes having another secret between them, another moment that nobody knows about except them, something they can silently joke about or bicker about with nothing but a few stolen looks under everyone's noses.

She narrows her eyes at him. "Good. Because if you ever tell people what happened, _I'll_ tell them that you aren't innocent either."

"You got me there, sweetheart."

"And just for the record. I have no desire for it to ever happen again. Ever."

He feels a slight pang in his chest. "Neither do I." _Liar liar liar._

"Good."

"Good."

Austin looks ahead, only to find that his – _their_ – friends are nowhere to be seen.

"We lost them," he says with a frown.

"It's a small beach on a small island. We'll find them," Ally replies.

"I hope. I worry about Dez. He's so innocent. He isn't ready to be alone in the world yet."

Ally snorts, a sound Austin has kind of grown to enjoy. It's so imperfect, so seemingly unnatural for someone of her upbringing and personality, that to him it feels like the most _Ally_ thing she does. It's a split second when she's completely herself, and he hopes to be the cause of that cute little snort many more times.

And it also means they're on good terms. And he likes good terms very much.

"I thought you worried about Coco."

"You called him by his name!" Austin exclaims with a smile.

Ally crosses her arms. "I still hate him. It. The rat. I still hate the rat."

"Aw, he's growing on you," Austin says, his smile growing.

"Please don't," she says, rolling her eyes.

"You two can become best friends and spend time together constantly and you can stay with him on the beach while I surf!"

"I'm not your rat-sitter."

"Monkey. You know he's a monkey. I know you do."

"Rat."

"Monkey."

"Rat."

"Monkey."

"Rat!" She shoves him gently.

" _Monkey_!" He shoves her harder, causing her to stumble.

"Don't be rude," she says, rolling her eyes again.

"You are truly unbelievable." He shakes his head. "I don't believe you. You may as well be a zebra for how much I believe you."

"Zebras are real."

"Sure they are."

"They are…"

"Then how come I've never seen one?" he asks, looking at her. "Tell me that."

"Because you live on a tiny little island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean."

Austin stays silent for a few seconds. "You're still wrong."

"You are so immature."

"Thank you."

The brunette rolls her eyes and shoves him again, but all he does is look over at her and smile.

Ally glares at him. "I _will_ punch you, Charming."

"I didn't say anything!" he exclaims with a grin.

"Whatever," she mutters. "Where did they _go_?"

"It's a small beach on a small island. We'll find them," he mocks her.

"I hate you," she says. "I'm serious."

"Lighten up, sweetheart."

"Stop being a jerk."

"That's all I've ever been to you."

"I thought we were friends now."

"I'm just teasing you, Sunglasses."

"Yeah, well, I thought we agreed not to talk about what happened."

"We aren't talking about it," he says, raising his eyebrows.

"Just…It's embarrassing, okay? I kind of just want to forget about it."

He sighs. "Fine, whatever."

"Thank you," she says.

He sees Dez's bright red hair up ahead and clenches his jaw, still frustrated that Ally is getting so mad at him.

He leans over to talk in her ear. "You know, if you're so embarrassed about kissing me, maybe you shouldn't have done it in the first place," he mutters bitterly. He walks over to Dez before she can reply.

"Hey, buddy," Dez says with a grin. "Where were you guys?"

"Fell behind," Austin replies. "Bickering. The usual."

"Ah. Well, you're free now."

Austin glances over at her. Free from arguing with her: check. Free from the underlying awkwardness and tension that's been surrounding them since they kissed: also check. But free of the bitter, heavy feeling in his chest that came when she admitted she was _embarrassed_ about kissing him? There's no escape from that.

* * *

 **so fanfiction is being a butt and not letting me upload the normal way but I figured it out so I hope you liked the chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

"Are you _sure_ this place isn't haunted?" Austin whispers to the monkey sitting on his shoulder after he knocks on the Dawsons' front door.

Coco keeps his eyes glued to the door, waiting for it to open.

"I'll take that as a no. We're gonna die in there," Austin says.

Just then, the door swings open and Austin is met with Lester Dawson's smiling face.

"Austin Moon! To what do I owe the pleasure?" the man says, stepping aside so Austin can walk in.

"Your daughter has been requested for a very intense beach volleyball game," Austin replies, looking around the house.

It's actually really nice. (He doesn't know what else he was expecting, considering how loaded this family is.) It doesn't _look_ haunted, but he isn't fully convinced that Ally isn't somehow possessed by a demon set on tormenting him.

"Well, I think she's reading up in her room, but – hey, what is that?" Lester asks, his gaze falling on Coco. "Ally mentioned something about never letting a rat into the house again, said it was your pet."

Austin frowns, acting confused. "No pet rat here, just a cute, innocent little monkey named Coco."

"Oh. Maybe it's someone else. Nice to meet you, Coco," Lester says, smiling at the monkey.

"So…you said she was up in her room…?" Austin asks awkwardly, veering the conversation back on track.

"Right," Lester replies. "Upstairs, second door on your right. Oh, and Austin?" Austin stops walking towards the staircase and looks at Lester. "No funny business."

Austin wonders if Lester even suspects that less than forty-eight hours ago he was locking lips with his daughter. He hopes the older man can't read his thoughts.

"You got it," he says, saluting him and walking upstairs.

He notices a few pictures on the walls as he climbs the stairs. A younger Ally is in all of them, and in some of them she's accompanied by one or both of her parents. He stops for a second, staring at one photo in particular of Ally at what he thinks is around six years old, giggling and poking the nose of her mother, who looks to be around her late twenties. She's smiling at her daughter, the crinkles by her eyes matching the ones he's seen on Ally the few times he's seen her actually smile. Penny has freckles on her nose, and he remembers noticing Ally's more and more each day as the island sun darkens them against her lightly tanned skin.

He sighs and keeps walking. He knocks on Ally's bedroom door, and she tells him to come in.

"Hey," he says, shutting the door behind him after he walks in.

"What're you doing here?" she asks, closing the book she was reading and setting it down next to her on her bed.

"You've been summoned," he tells her, looking around her room.

It's exactly like he assumed it would be: pink, expensive, and annoyingly adorable.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Me and the guys are gonna play volleyball at the beach and we need a fourth player. You in?"

"I'm kinda busy," she says.

"Doing what?"

"Summer homework." She holds up the book.

He doesn't bother looking at it. "Homework over the summer? Who does that?"

"AP teachers," she says.

"You're in AP classes?"

"What, are you surprised?"

"A little."

"I'm smarter than people think. And if I wanna be taken seriously when I take over my dad's company when I'm older, I have to go to a good business school. And to get into a good business school, I need all the good grades and merits and test scores I can get. Hence the AP classes."

"You really care about this, don't you?" he says, his gaze landing on a whiteboard across from her bed with a bunch of prestigious business schools written on it in neat cursive.

"Yeah, I do. I don't wanna float through life on my dad's money."

"Well, I think you can get into whatever school you want," he says, looking over at her.

She nods. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

"Anyway, you coming to play or not?"

"Why not Trish or Carrie?"

"They – _we_ – wanna hang out with you."

She raises her eyebrows, then frowns, standing up. "Is that Coco?"

"Uhh…"

"I told you – "

"Sunglasses, come on. He's never done anything wrong. He likes you."

The brunette rolls her eyes. "Whatever. I'll come play your stupid volleyball game. Just let me change."

"Sweet! Meet you outside!" Austin exclaims with a grin, dashing out of her room and out the front door.

He realizes he sounded _way_ too excited to hang out with her just then, but, well, he kind of is.

She meets him a few minutes later, wearing a white bikini under denim short shorts and the sheer sweater she was wearing at the bonfire. Her signature sunglasses are sitting on her nose, and oddly enough, she's smiling.

"Alright, Charming. Let's go."

"You seem oddly happy," he notes as they start the short walk to the beach.

"And you oddly seem to care," she replies, her beach bag bouncing against her hip.

"Just making an observation," he says.

"Maybe for the first time since I got here, I _am_ happy. Don't ruin it."

"Why would _I_ ruin it?"

"Do you _really_ want me to answer that?"

Austin rolls his eyes and they continue their walk in silence.

When they get to the net Dez and Jace should be waiting at, they don't see them. Austin frowns.

"Where'd they go?"

"Charming, if you just wanted to hang out with me you could've – "

"They said they'd wait here," he interrupts, looking around. "They ditched me."

"Maybe they moved nets or something," Ally suggests.

But then Austin sees the red flash of Dez's hair by the water. "I'll be back," he says to Ally before running down to talk to Dez and Jace.

"Oh, hey Austin," Jace says, his surfboard under his arm.

"What gives?" Austin asks.

"We got bored waiting, so we decided to just surf instead. Go grab your board and meet us out there!" Dez exclaims.

"But – "

"Ally will be fine. She can just text the girls or something," Dez says. Then he looks at Jace. "Race ya!"

The two boys sprint into the water, leaving Austin frowning on the sand. He trudges back up to Ally, who already has her towel laid out and is folding her sweater and shorts to put in her bag, her sunglasses sitting on the corner of her towel.

"They wanted to surf instead," he tells her.

"Go with them," she replies.

"But then you'll be alone."

"Don't worry about it. I don't mind."

"I do."

"Charming, I'm serious. Don't feel bad. A week ago you wouldn't have given me a second thought."

"Things are different now. You know that."

Ally rolls her eyes. "Well, what do you wanna do?"

He presses his lips together, deciding to take a risk. "I want you to get over your fear."

"Excuse me?"

He doesn't respond, instead grabbing her hand and running to the water. She follows him (not that she has much of a choice), but she stops running a few yards away from the water.

"I'm not going in there," she says.

He turns around to face her. "Why not?"

"You know why. You can't just do that and expect me to be fine."

"Look, we'll take it one step at a time, okay? I want you to get over this. I don't want you being stuck all alone while everyone else is in the water."

"You're just doing this to see how scared I get."

"That's not true."

"Then why do you suddenly care whether I'm over my fear or not?"

"Because I know what it's like for your friends to leave you, and I know it hurts, even if you say it doesn't." Ally presses her lips together. "And don't you _want_ to get over it?"

She nods slowly, looking up at him. "Yeah…"

"Then this is me advising you to face your fear."

She smiles slightly, swallowing nervously. "We do this slowly."

"Slowly. Got it."

"No farther than I say. And when we're in the water…you can't leave me."

He grabs her other hand. "Wasn't going to."

"And you can't laugh at me or – "

"I'm trying to _help_ you, city girl. Not make fun of you."

She nods, swallowing again. "Okay."

"Okay, let's go down to the waterline."

He walks backwards, still holding her hands, until his heels are in the water when the waves come up. She's looking down, eyeing the water nervously. Her hands are shaking.

"Ready?" he asks her.

She looks up at him, her eyes widened slightly in fear. But she nods, albeit hesitantly, and he gives her an encouraging smile.

He takes a step backwards, and she follows him, her grip on his hands tightening when the water comes up to her toes.

"It's kinda cold," he says.

She nods, looking down. "I don't think – "

"C'mon, you can do this. Out of your comfort zone, yeah?"

She looks up at him again. "What?"

"Imagine how proud of you your mom will be when you get over this fear."

Ally smiles slightly. "Maybe I should've done this instead of kiss some jerk in our special place." Her voice is shaking, but he can tell she's feeling a little better.

"I thought we weren't talking about it," he teases.

"We're not."

He smiles at her and takes another step backwards. She follows him, the water almost reaching her ankles when it comes in now. She looks down at it, biting her lip.

"Hey, eyes on me," he says. She looks at him again. "Don't think about it, okay? Focus on me."

"Your face is almost as scary as the water," she says.

"That was weak."

"I'm under a lot of stress right now."

"Ready?"

She nods, and they take another step. They keep doing this, pausing to talk for a few seconds in between each step, until the water is up to her knees.

"Hey, Austin!" Jace calls from the water a little ways away. "Come out here!"

Ally's grip on his hands tightens. "You said – " she starts.

"Don't worry," he interrupts, ignoring Jace. "Another step?"

It takes her a few seconds and a glance down at the water before she nods. They take another step together.

Every time a wave hits them, it takes her a few seconds to recover and loosen the death grip on his hands, but she's doing pretty well, all things considered.

They've been jumping over the waves, since they've been pretty small, but the second he sees her eyes widen in fear, locked on something behind him, he knows that the inevitable is about to happen.

He looks behind him, and sure enough he sees a wave big enough to topple them if they try to jump over it.

"We have to go under this one, okay?" he tells her as the wave seems to crawl towards them in slow motion.

"Under?" she squeaks.

"Just for a couple seconds while it passes over us. It'll be okay, I promise."

"I don't think – "

"Do you trust me?" he asks her, locking eyes with her.

She nods slowly. "Yes…"

He lets go of one of her hands to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her into him, keeping his grip on her other hand. "Good." He looks behind him to watch the wave, and when it gets close enough, he looks at her again. "Ready?"

She nods, and together they inhale and hold their breath as he pulls her underwater with him while the wave passes over them. Her grip on his hand is tighter than ever, and she has a death grip on his arm with the hand he's not holding.

But almost as soon as he pulls them under, he stands back up, taking her with him. She wipes the water out of her eyes with her free hand and looks up at him.

"You did it!" he exclaims with a grin.

"I…guess I did," she says, looking around at the water.

He smiles more and pulls her into a tight hug, and she hugs him back. He notices her burying her nose in his shoulder, and he can't help but smile at the fact that she trusts him enough to let him help her get over her fear.

"Thank you," she says quietly as another small wave hits them.

"Of course," he replies.

* * *

"Are you sure Jace and Dez won't miss you?" she asks him as they sit on her bedroom floor with a movie playing on the TV.

"They probably don't even know we left," he says, laying to the side and propping himself up on his elbow while she doodles in a notebook.

"You're positive?"

"If you wanna get rid of me, sweetheart, all you have to do is ask."

She rolls her eyes and he smiles at her, grabbing one of the markers next to her and uncapping it. He starts drawing random swirls and doodles on her knee.

"I didn't ask for a tattoo," she says, not looking up at him.

"Too late for that."

She smiles slightly, glancing over at him. He smiles back. Then she turns around her notebook, showing him a roughly-drawn picture of what he thinks is a mouse.

"Cute," he says.

"It's Coco."

"Coco isn't a mouse."

"No, he's a rat."

Austin rolls his eyes. "Ha-ha." She smiles at him and turns the page of her notebook starting on another drawing. "You know, Coco adores you," he says, reaching over to where the small monkey is picking through Ally's carpet and picking him up.

"That's not my fault," she says with a shrug.

"How can you not love this face?" Austin asks, sitting up and holding Coco closer to Ally.

"Pretty easily, actually," she replies, shoving his hand away.

"I think you secretly love him," Austin says, petting the monkey's head.

"You are very wrong."

He narrows his eyes at her, but she's already looking back down at whatever she's drawing in her notebook.

He doesn't miss the small smile playing at her lips. He's noticed that she wears that smile pretty often, whenever she's trying her best to suppress it but she can't help but be content in whatever situation she's in.

He's noticed her doing it around him a lot more than she used to.

He knows it's probably reaching too far to think that she might like him, but the idea still nags at him in his mind. She _did_ kiss him, which has to be some sort of indication of her feelings, right? Not to mention that she seems to trust him a lot more than Dez or Jace, and that tiny little smile seems to be appearing more and more often each time they hang out.

He doesn't really want to think about his own feelings, mainly because he's afraid of what he might find. This summer was supposed to be about his friends, not girl drama. But here he is, wondering (and maybe sorta kinda hoping) that this girl who he hated not even a week ago might actually like him.

What if she's wondering the same thing about him? Maybe she's overanalyzing the fact that he kissed her back, scrutinizing his every gesture since that night. Maybe she's been taking notice of some habit he's taken on that he doesn't even _know_ about, but that might provide some sort of inclination of how he feels about her. Maybe she's trying to focus on figuring out his feelings so she doesn't have to think about her own.

He clears his throat, trying to find another path for his mind to take. But she looks up at him, and he can't possibly think about anything except her when she's looking at him with those big, twinkling, brown eyes.

"You okay…?" she asks him warily. He must look like a deer caught in headlights.

"Yeah," he says, shaking his head and clearing his throat again. "But, uh, I should probably go." He starts getting up.

"Oh. Okay." He tries to convince himself that wasn't disappointment in her voice.

"I'll see you later."

He doesn't wait for her response, scooping up Coco and rushing out of the house as fast as he can. It was all too much, too real, and if he's going to be forced to finally think about his feelings he'd rather it be alone than with her sitting right next to him.

He picks up his surfboard, which he left on her porch, and walks home. He immediately goes up to his room, setting Coco in his hammock before collapsing on his bed.

He knows he's not _truly_ conflicted, that if he just accepts what he knows is true he'll probably feel a lot better, even though it'll lead to new problems. He knows he should just say it out loud, admit it to himself, but he just _doesn't want to_.

It isn't _fair_. This was never supposed to happen. He expected to hate her all summer and then forget about her within a year. That kiss was never in the plan, and he never even imagined the feelings that came with it. But here he is, his heart about to pound out of his chest and his stomach dropping every few seconds as the thought flashes through his mind over and over again. He realizes that each time he feels that tingling in his stomach, he smiles. And he hates himself for it.

He feels the familiar tiny hands crawling up his side and onto his chest, and he looks down to see that Coco escaped his hammock and came to him instead. He pets the monkey's head and sighs.

"I like her," he mutters, hoping that maybe Coco didn't hear and he can pretend he didn't say it.

But he feels like a weight has been lifted off his chest (even though Coco weighs hardly anything and hasn't moved).

"I like her," he says again, a little louder, a little more terrified.

Coco doesn't seem to have an opinion on the matter, as he climbs off Austin's chest and goes to get a drink out of his water dish.

Austin sighs. He knows he'll have to confront this at some point, and now that he's accepting it that point will have to be sooner rather than later, but for right now he can just keep it between him and Coco.

* * *

 **Hello friends I have an announcement: I am going away to camp and I won't be back until Saturday, which means it'll probably be a while until my next update. I promise I haven't given up, I'm just not home lol ALSO I'M A LITTLE LATE BUT HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GIOVANNA YOUR NAME IS BEAUTIFUL AND YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL AND I HOPE YOU HAD A WONDERFUL DAY! Anyway thanks for reading! I love you allllllllllll**


	10. Chapter 10

He really shouldn't have come here. How is he supposed to stop thinking about his feelings for Ally if he's sitting in the exact spot where they kissed?

But here he is, sitting on the ground at the Cliff, all alone, while his friends are probably enjoying lunch on another normal summer day that hasn't been turned upside down.

For once, he's kind of glad that they're pushing him aside for Ally. It means he can take this alone time without raising any suspicion. But then again, if his friends hadn't pushed him aside for Ally he probably wouldn't be here in the first place. So really, this is all _her_ fault.

He can't bring himself to resent her.

He picks up a rock sitting next to him and hurls it over the edge of the cliff and into the ocean. He's about to throw another one, when he hears a voice behind him.

"Y'know, it's a lot easier to have lunch with your friends when you're _not_ sitting all alone on a cliff."

He doesn't turn to look at her, but he does throw the rock over the cliff. "What're you doing here?"

"Remember those friends you were afraid you were gonna lose to me? Well, they realized you weren't coming and got pretty worried. It's like a search and rescue mission down on the beach."

"Doesn't answer my question."

"I had a feeling." She walks over and sits next to him, staring ahead like he is.

"Yeah, I've had lots of those," he mutters, tossing another rock into the ocean.

"So what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on." He doesn't even _try_ to make it believable.

"You know, I still don't understand why you guys have tainted this place with your teenage hormones," she says. "It's much better for thinking. Or talking, whether that's about life or fears or problems or – "

"It's the view," he interrupts her, hoping to keep the subject change. "Especially at sunset. Better than the back row of a movie theater, at least."

He sees her smile out of his peripheral. "That's mostly just a myth, you know."

"There are a lot of things I don't know."

"Are you actually admitting to _not_ being perfect?"

He glances over at her, but she catches him. He looks ahead again as quickly as he can. "Maybe I am."

"Wanna tell me why you're up here all alone?"

"Not really."

"Why not?"

"Because, sweetheart, if I wanted to talk about it, I would have." He picks up a rock and turns it over in his hands, staring at it, doing everything he can to avoid her eyes.

"Let me guess, a city girl wouldn't understand?" she teases, unfazed.

"No, you'd understand. You'd understand all too well."

"Then why won't you tell me?"

"Because I don't really wanna talk about it."

She frowns slightly, silent for a few seconds. "Oh. Then…I guess I'll just go."

She starts getting up, but he sighs and rests a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She doesn't object.

They sit in silence, and having her here is more calming than anything else he's tried to do to get her off his mind. Maybe it's that he doesn't _mind_ thinking about her if she's sitting right next to him, or maybe it's just the fact that she has that effect on him now, but either way, she makes him feel a lot better.

But finally he can't take it and he exhales, looking over at her. She meets his eyes, and he immediately looks away again.

"Coco…met a girl monkey," he says.

"Oh?"

"Mmhm. And he doesn't really know what to do."

"Well, does he like this girl monkey?" she asks.

"Of course he does, keep up," Austin replies quickly. "And he just…he doesn't wanna tell her because he's pretty sure she doesn't feel the same way, but at the same time she's kinda given him a few signals that maybe she does. Honestly, he's just really confused."

"Maybe if Coco tells the girl monkey how he feels, she'll tell him how _she_ feels."

"She might not feel the same way. Then he'll become the laughingstock of all the monkeys."

"I'm sure Coco's monkey friends would get over it if the girl monkey didn't like him back."

Austin sighs, running his hands down his face. "You don't _get_ it, Ally."

It's the first time he's ever called her by her real name. It sounds strange in his voice, but oddly right.

"Are Coco's friends really that mean?"

"Coco isn't sure how mean his friends are, okay? It depends on the day and the situation and they love the girl monkey so Coco's life would probably be ruined if she didn't like him back."

"That sounds like a bit of an exaggeration."

He looks at her, and he immediately realizes that she _knows_. Her eyes are twinkling with silent laughter, and her lips are curved into a small smile that he knows is supposed to hide her amusement.

"I hate you," he deadpans, standing up.

"I didn't do anything!" she argues, standing up as well.

He crosses his arms, looking down at her with his jaw clenched in frustration and embarrassment.

"Look, if Coco really likes this girl monkey, I think he should just be his monkey self and see where things go."

"Your advice sucks."

"Well, what would _you_ tell him to do?"

"I would tell him to throw caution to the wind and just go for it. But clearly I'm not him."

"No, I guess you're not," Ally says, acting disappointed. "But if you were, I'd tell you to follow your advice."

Austin stares at her. That innocent smile, those twinkling eyes, her eyebrows raised almost as if she's _daring_ him to blurt out his feelings for her all become too much.

"Screw it."

He grabs her face and presses his lips to hers, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to ignore the nagging voice in his mind reminding him that she was embarrassed to kiss him the first time.

But despite that, her smile grows and she kisses him back, resting her hands on his chest. He knows she can probably feel how hard his heart is pounding right now, but he doesn't care.

He wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her closer, sighing and feeling himself relax more and more with each passing moment. He rubs his thumb over her cheekbone, his fingers in her hair.

"Austin, are you – _whoa_!"

And as soon as the moment started, it ends.

They jump away from each other, both turning to see who interrupted them. He sees Jace covering his eyes with his hand.

"I am _so_ sorry – " he starts.

"You're – it's – what do you want, Jace?" Austin asks, running a hand through his hair. He doesn't care how obvious his frustration is.

"We were all just looking for you, and Ally disappeared so then we were looking for _her_ , and…wow."

"Hi, Jace." Ally waves sheepishly.

"Wait, so are you two…?"

"Oh, no – "Austin starts.

"We were just – " Ally interrupts.

"It's not – "

"This isn't – "

"It's complicated…?" Austin tries, glancing at Ally for approval. She nods.

"This is…I mean, _still_. You two – and – wait till everyone else hears about this," Jace says with a grin.

"No!" Austin exclaims immediately. "You can't tell anyone! In fact, pretend you never even saw us. This whole thing was a dream, or just a figment of your imagination, or a prank. Goodbye."

He grabs Jace's shoulders, turns him around, and pushes him away. Surprisingly, he keeps walking, chuckling and shaking his head.

"We're dead," Ally says.

He looks at her. "Maybe he won't tell."

"What're the odds?"

"Pretty high. Hopefully. He might blackmail us. Or maybe just me."

"Don't panic."

"I'm not panicking. I'm perfectly calm." He runs a hand through his already-disheveled hair.

"Okay, sure. So, uh, what do we do now?" she asks, scratching her head.

Austin snaps his fingers and points at her, coming up with an idea. "We do nothing. We go back to normal. If Jace tells everyone, they won't believe him if nothing has changed between us, and eventually he'll be lead to believe he just dreamed it or something."

"You really think it'll work?"

"I really think it's all we've got."

"What's wrong with everyone knowing, though?"

"Judgment. Pressure."

"You're embarrassed."

"I didn't say that. You're the one who said it was embarrassing to kiss me."

"I didn't mean it like that. But apparently you do."

He exhales, running both hands through his hair. "Look, if _we're_ gonna happen" – he gestures between the two of them – "then I want us to happen on our own time, okay? Not because of something someone else says."

Ally presses her lips together. "I guess that makes sense."

"So we go back to normal?"

"This may as well have never happened," she says with a nod.

He really, _really_ hopes that's a little bit of hurt and a dash of disappointment in her voice. Which is kind of awful of him, but he just _really_ wants her to feel the same way.

"So…should we go back down there?" he asks her.

"If you want."

He nods and together they make their way to the beach, where their friends are all standing together and talking over each other.

"Found him," Ally says when they join the circle.

"Where were you?!" Trish asks him.

"Nowhere," Austin replies.

He doesn't miss Jace smirking at him from the other side of the circle. But he ignores him.

"Well, we ate lunch without you, so I hope you're happy," Trish says.

"I'm not hungry," he says with a shrug.

"You're _always_ hungry," Dez says, knitting his eyebrows together. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, Dez."

The redhead looks at Ally, and she shrugs. "Don't look at me. I thought he was fine."

"You're not fine," Dez says, looking at him again. "Look at him, Jace."

Jace looks at him, smirking the entire time. "Yep, there's definitely something wrong with him."

"Who cares?" Carrie sighs. "I thought we were gonna go surfing!"

"I care!" Dez exclaims. "What's wrong, buddy?"

"Nothing's wrong!"

"Whatever it is, he's embarrassed about it, or else he would just admit it," Jace says, acting like he's trying to figure it out for himself.

"Something embarrassing? Now I gotta know what it is," Trish says with a grin.

"Okay, well, I'm with Carrie. Who cares if there's something wrong with him?" Ally tries.

"His best friends!" Dez says defensively. "Stop being so rude!"

Austin would be touched that Dez cares so much if he wasn't so busy trying to think of a way to stop Jace from telling everyone here the truth.

"You know, I think it's a _girl_ ," Jace says, his smirk growing.

"Austin likes someone?" Carrie asks, suddenly interested in the conversation.

"He does." Jace nods.

"You're right, look at him blushing!" Dez says with a grin.

"I'm not blushing, and I don't like anyone," Austin says quickly, placing his hands on his cheeks to cool them down. "Why do you guys even care?"

"You said yourself you were gonna avoid girl drama this summer," Jace says. "But you like someone."

"Who is it?" Trish asks. "Please tell me you don't still have feelings for Piper."

"It's nobody. I don't like anyone, okay? Let's just go surf or whatever."

"Not till we figure this out," Dez says. "C'mon, buddy. We're all your friends here. We won't make fun of you."

"Well – " Jace starts.

"We won't," Dez interrupts, giving Jace a hard look.

"You know what, I just remembered that I have to go feed Coco before he starves to death. So you guys have fun, and maybe I'll catch up with you later."

He walks away without waiting for a response.

He isn't surprised when he sees the familiar head of brown beach waves out of the corner of his eye.

"Go with them. Trish can teach you how to surf or something," he says.

"I can't go in the water without my swimming buddy." She nudges him with her shoulder, but he doesn't look at her. She sighs. "Look, Charming, I'm gonna be honest with you here. Seeing you thisembarrassed about this whole thing _hurts_."

"That's really funny coming from you, considering you told me it was _embarrassing_ that you kissed me," he snaps.

"It _was_ embarrassing, but not because of what they might think if they found out."

"Then what's so embarrassing about it?"

"I kissed you, but I did it thinking you still hated me. I was embarrassed about what _you_ might think."

He stops walking and looks at her, one foot on the bottom step leading up to his porch. "You were?"

She nods, her cheeks tinting pink. He's pretty sure this is the first time he's _actually_ seen her blush. "Well…yeah," she admits shyly. "I mean, I was basically handing you the ball and saying, 'Your move,' while pretty much assuming that you'd just laugh at me." She shrugs. "That's why I didn't wanna talk about it. I didn't want you to have that chance."

He presses his lips together. This is almost her admitting her feelings, and as far as he's concerned it's going in the right direction.

"Oh," he says lamely, his mind whirling too much to come up with a more coherent response.

"But obviously you're more worried about what other people think. And – and that _really_ hurts, y'know? I mean, what's so wrong with me that you don't want anyone knowing you like me?" She laughs, but it isn't the musical sound he's grown fond of. It's humorless, bitter, disappointed, hurt. "Is it because I'm not from here? Is it because I'm rich and you're worried they'll all just assume that's the only reason you like me? Is it because you're worried they'll push you away even more? Or…or are you just too proud to admit that you went from hating me to _liking_ me in less than a month?"

He knits his eyebrows together, surprised at just how many insecurities she has. "It's not like that – " he tries.

"Then what is it? You said yourself that one of the reasons you don't want them knowing is because they'll judge you."

"Ally – "

"I'm sorry I'm not good enough, Austin. I'm sorry that you're so ashamed you can't even tell your best friends that you like me, that you'd rather come up with some lie or pretend to hate me than just tell them the truth."

"I just don't want them making fun of us – "

"Who _cares_ what they say?" she interrupts. Then she takes a deep breath and looks at him. "Apparently you do, since you're so worried about how this might affect your image."

She starts walking away, but he catches up to her and grabs her wrist to stop her. "I'm sorry," he says. "You're right. I'll tell them. Whatever you want me to say, I'll say it."

She presses her lips together. "Really?"

He nods, searching her eyes. "I don't want to lose you because of this."

She watches him for a few seconds before standing on her tiptoes and kissing him gently on the cheek. He lets go of her wrist and sighs in relief, feeling the heat rise to his face.

She pulls away. "Tell them," she says quietly.

And then she walks away. He helplessly watches her go with a tingling cheek and a pounding heart.

* * *

 **I'm back from camp! I hope you guys liked this chapter! (Thanks to Lexy coughasalwayscough for assisting me in everything I ever do) I love all of you soooooooooooooo much!**


	11. Chapter 11

He takes a deep breath as he opens the gate to Jace's back yard and walks in to meet his friends.

Trish turns her head. "Nice of you to finally join us. Where's Ally?"

He shrugs. "Why do you just assume I know?"

"Because you two have your…thing."

Austin raises an eyebrow at her. "What thing?"

"You know…your _thing_."

He rolls his eyes and walks over to sit on one of the porch chairs alone.

"You okay, buddy?" Dez asks, walking over to sit next to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine."

"I am."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing is _wrong_ , Dez."

"Let me handle this," Jace says, walking over to them. "Dez, play for me." He hands the redhead the pole he was using to play pool and takes his seat when Dez gets up.

"I'm fine," Austin says again.

"Is it about Ally?" Jace asks knowingly.

He crosses his arms, wishing he could be anywhere but here.

"Is it because of what I was saying after I caught you guys the other day? Because you know I wasn't trying to screw anything up with you two – "

"It's fine. I'm fine."

Jace presses his lips together in a line. "You know, maybe if you told everyone, you wouldn't be so stressed out about it."

"That's _why_ I'm stressing," Austin mutters.

"What do you mean?"

He sighs. "Ally wants me to tell everyone."

"So why don't you?"

"I don't know how."

"Just say it. I don't know why you wanna keep it a secret so bad, anyway."

"Well, considering how _you_ reacted – "

"That's because I caught you two _making out_."

"Caught who making out?" Dez says, looking over at them.

"Someone was making out?" Carrie asks, knitting her eyebrows and looking at them too.

"So there _is_ a girl!" Trish exclaims.

"All you, buddy," Jace says, patting Austin's back.

Austin swallows nervously, looking around at all his friends and trying not to kill Jace.

"It was Ally," he says before he can stop himself.

"You kissed _Ally_?" Trish says. "Why didn't she tell me?!"

"We kinda had an agreement not to talk about it…" Austin admits. "But it's whatever. Don't make it a big deal."

"Do you like her?" Carrie asks.

"Of course he likes her!" Dez says. Then he turns to look at Austin. "You _do_ like her, don't you?"

Austin rolls his eyes and nods, standing up. "I'll be right back."

He walks inside, eager to get away from them, and to his surprise, they don't follow him. He walks in the bathroom and splashes some water on his face, staring at himself in the mirror and willing his blush to go away. When his cheeks finally return to their normal color, he takes a deep breath and walks back outside.

"Look who finally arrived!" Trish exclaims as soon as he walks out the door. She gestures to Ally standing next to her. "The girlfriend you didn't tell us about!"

Ally knits her eyebrows. "Girlfriend?"

"Apparently you and Austin are…how do I put it… _smooch buddies_ ," Dez says, pointing to his lips and wiggling his eyebrows.

Austin grimaces and does his best not to blush again.

"Oh, really?" Ally says. "Anything else I missed?"

"Austin likes you!" Carrie exclaims excitedly.

"Ah, there it is," Ally says, pointing at Carrie and looking at Austin.

"Carrie! You're gonna get him in trouble!" Dez says.

"Oops," she says, but her voice holds no remorse.

Austin raises his eyebrows at Ally, and she smiles. "Was that so hard?" she asks him innocently.

"Yes, actually," he deadpans. "Very hard. Excruciatingly hard, in fact. Never doing that again."

"Wait, you _knew_?" Trish exclaims. "He kissed you, _and_ he likes you, and you didn't _tell_ me?!"

"Someone's in trouble," Austin sing-songs, smirking at Ally.

"Can it, Moon," Trish snaps.

He closes his mouth and watches as Trish drags Ally away to talk to her.

"So, that went well," Austin says, looking at the remainder of his friends.

"Are you gonna ask her out?" Dez asks.

"I don't know."

"You should!" Carrie exclaims.

"I'll take that into consideration," Austin says.

"She seems happy you told everyone," Jace says.

"Yeah, because she forced me to," he replies.

"Are you glad you did, though?" Jace asks.

Austin shrugs. "I guess. If it makes her happy."

Trish squeals from the other side of the yard, and they all turn their heads towards the noise.

"Carry on," she says while Ally tries to hide her giggles. "We're coming."

Austin raises his eyebrows, but he looks at the rest of his friends again.

"What do you think that was about?" Dez asks.

"No idea," he replies. "Anyway – "

"They're coming," Carrie says, looking over at the two girls.

Austin turns his head, but all he sees is a flash of brunette curls before she kisses him. He raises his eyebrows in surprise, but he closes his eyes and kisses her back, doing his best to ignore the whistles and cheers coming from his friends.

She pulls away, and he opens his eyes to see her smiling at him and the rest of their friends smirking. "Uh, hi," he says lamely, smiling nonetheless.

"Hey," she laughs.

"Hi!" Dez exclaims.

Austin and Ally turn, paying attention to their friends again.

"You know, I just realized I left a bunch of food inside. I'll go get it," Jace says.

"We'll help!" Trish exclaims, dragging everyone else inside with her and her boyfriend.

"That was subtle," Ally says jokingly.

"They're nothing without their subtlety," Austin agrees with a chuckle.

"So…you told them."

"I did."

"I honestly didn't think you would."

"Neither did I," he admits. "But here we are."

She smiles up at him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Here we are."

He raises his eyebrows, looking down at her as he rests his hands on her back. He's not used to her being this affectionate…or affectionate _at all_ , really. But, well, here they are.

* * *

"Where's your girlfriend?" Dez asks as they sit down to eat at the diner with Jace, Trish, and Carrie.

"She's not my girlfriend, and I don't know," Austin replies.

"Wait, you haven't asked her out yet?" Jace asks.

"It's complicated, okay?"

"How so?" Jace raises his eyebrows.

"It just is. Can we stop talking about this please?"

"Austin's right. His love life is none of our business," Trish says. "Maybe you two should focus on your own." She gestures to herself and Carrie.

"Thank you, Trish," Austin says, relieved to drop the subject.

Just then, Austin's mom arrives with their food. They all thank her and dig in. Austin is especially grateful that his friends are too busy eating to keep talking about him and Ally.

It's been three days since Austin's brave announcement of his feelings, and he and Ally are both perfectly happy with not labeling their relationship. But apparently, everyone else isn't.

He finishes eating before his friends, hoping to leave before they get the chance to bring up Ally again. But as soon as he gets up, Dez stops him.

"Going to meet up with your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Then what is she?"

"We're just going with the flow or whatever. It's not that big a deal, okay?"

Dez raises his eyebrows. "Not a big deal?"

"No. It's not. We're just a thing, I don't know."

"Whatever."

"Can I leave now?"

"I guess. Tell her I say hi."

Austin rolls his eyes and walks out before any of the others can stop him. He walks along the beach, regretting his decision to tell his friends about his feelings for Ally.

Then that regret dissipates when he feels someone jump on his back and wrap their arms around his neck. He stumbles a bit in surprise and smiles, holding her thighs so she doesn't fall off.

"Hi," she says, her grin evident in her voice.

"Hi yourself," he replies.

"What's up?" she asks as he keeps walking, still holding her on his back.

"Nothing."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

She taps his shoulder and he stops walking and sets her down, turning to look at her.

"You're upset about something."

"No I'm not."

"Just tell me what's going on."

He sighs. "Dez just said some things at the diner this morning."

"What'd he say?"

Austin keeps walking, staring ahead to avoid looking at her as she walks next to him.

"He kept asking about us and calling you my girlfriend. And I didn't really know what to say."

"Why does he care?"

"Because he's my best friend."

"Well, it's none of his business."

"Okay, but that doesn't answer the question of what we are."

"I thought we were happy not labeling it."

"Maybe we'd be happier if we did."

"You know…this – us – it's not gonna last forever."

He looks over at her, knitting his eyebrows together and frowning. "What do you mean?"

"It's not like we'll really ever see each other again after I leave."

He stops walking. "Why not?"

She stops too, looking up at him in confusion. "Austin, I live in Miami. And you live on this tiny little island in the middle of the ocean. It's not like we can just hang out whenever we want."

"But we'll stay in touch."

"Yeah, but that isn't the same."

"So you're saying that as soon as you go home, we're over?"

"No, because we aren't starting anything."

"I _want_ to start something."

"Austin – "

"Why can't we just have a long distance relationship?"

"Those never work."

"We could!"

"Austin, come on. You've hated me for most of the time I've been here."

"And now I don't. You know that."

She sighs, grabbing his hands. "Look," she says gently, "I just don't think it's a very good idea for us to be anything other than friends if I'm leaving in a month and a half. It'll only make it more difficult to leave."

"Maybe you don't have to leave."

"Austin, stop."

He frowns, squeezing her hands. "I thought you said that when I told everyone that I like you we could be together."

"It's not a good idea. I'm sorry." She keeps walking, and he follows alongside her.

"You're not being fair."

"I'm trying to protect the both of us."

"What if we could make long distance work?"

"Who knows if we would even last until I leave?"

Austin purses his lips. "Then at least we would've tried."

"I'm not doing this, Austin. Things are good the way they are. We can hang out and flirt and do whatever, but we aren't dating."

He sighs. "So that's it then? All we are is just some summer fling, and we're not even gonna _try_ to be anything more?"

"It's all we _can_ be. It just isn't worth it to become anything else only to lose it after I leave."

"Oh, so now it's not _worth_ it? I'm not worth it. I get it now," he says, rolling his eyes.

"You know what I mean. Don't do that."

"Whatever," he mutters, walking ahead of her.

"You're seriously getting mad at me about this?"

He crosses his arms, stopping and staring ahead.

"You're such a _brat_ ," she mutters.

He clenches his jaw and turns around, storming back over to her his eyes narrowed in hurt and frustration. " _I'm_ the brat?! That's coming from the rich city girl who's so used to getting whatever she wants at the snap of her fingers that she can't even be bothered to try having a relationship where she has to put in any effort!"

"You think that this is because I don't want to put in the _effort_?!"

"If that's not it, then what is it?!"

"I don't want either of us to get hurt when we grow apart!"

"Who says we're gonna grow apart?!"

"That's what always happens!"

"What if it doesn't this time?!"

"I don't know!"

"I won't let it happen!"

"Okay!"

"Okay!"

They stand in the sand, staring at each other with matching frustrated expressions and heavy breathing from all the arguing. But then her countenance melts into a look of exhaustion and she wraps her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his chest.

He sighs, his frustration fading away as he wraps his arms around her small figure, feeling quite exhausted himself.

He looks down at her and brushes some hair that fell into her face behind her ear, kissing the top of her head.

"I just know that it'll hurt more to leave my boyfriend than it will to leave my summer fling," she says quietly.

"Well, I'm not your boyfriend yet, am I?"

She looks up at him, her chin resting on his chest.

"One date," he says, looking down at her. "If it goes well, we go on another one. If not, we stick to whatever we are now."

"I'm listening," she says.

"Tomorrow night, we can go to the diner, have the best burgers you've ever tasted, and talk without bickering every five minutes. Just you, me, and Coco."

She raises her eyebrows. "You're bringing the rat to a date?"

He smiles. "Coco's still a monkey, and I'm kidding."

She relaxes. "Oh."

"So…is that a yes?"

"Mmm…maybe."

He leans down and presses his lips to hers in a soft kiss, finding comfort in how relaxed she is in his arms. She hums lazily against his lips before pulling away slightly so she can talk.

"One date. But only if you kiss me again," she says quietly, sounding content.

He still isn't used to her being so affectionate to him, especially since she's still pretty reserved with everyone else by comparison. But he isn't complaining.

"You drive a hard bargain, sweetheart," he teases.

She stands on her tiptoes and kisses him again sweetly, tightening her grip around him to stay balanced. But then she pulls away quicker than he expected, standing flat on her feet again. He opens his eyes and is met with her gaze.

"Sorry for what I said earlier," she says. "You're worth it."

"I'm sorry too. For freaking out and yelling at you."

"Fighting with you is more exhausting than it used to be," she admits.

He nods in agreement, unable to help how endeared he is by her sheepish smile. He probably looks like a lovesick puppy.

"We should kiss again instead," he says.

"Much more productive," she agrees.

He smiles and kisses her yet again, trying to forget about the fact that she leaves in just six weeks because for right now, things feel pretty close to perfect.

* * *

 **hey guys, remember me? I know it's been over a month and I promise I've seen all your reviews telling me to update and I felt really bad each day that I didn't, but I've been super busy with vacations and summer homework and work. Also lexy came to stay with me for a week all the way from Canada so I've been busy living it up with her too! (she's asleep on the floor right now lol) But yeah again I'm really sorry for the long wait, but I hope this makes up for it! It'll probably be another long-ish wait for the next chapter because I have a lot of summer homework to finish, but I promise I haven't given up on this story! Also thanks for reading! :D**


	12. Chapter 12

"I dunno, Coco," he says, looking at himself in the mirror. "This color just doesn't work for me."

The poor monkey, unable to do anything else but watch Austin try on clothes for two hours, opens his eyes as he's prevented from dozing off yet again.

"Stay awake, this is important," Austin tells him. "This date with Ally tonight has to be _perfect_."

"Knock, knock," says a voice from out in the hallway.

"Come in," Austin calls.

Jace opens the door and walks in the room, shutting it behind him. "Dude, you said you had been trying on clothes for an hour when I called you an hour ago."

"I can't decide!" Austin complains.

"Just pick one. I don't see the big deal," Jace says.

"This date has to be _perfect_. That's the big deal."

"Why?"

"Because if it's not, she won't go out with me again. And I need her to go out with me again."

"What if you go on the date and realize you _don't_ want her to go out with you again? What if you don't like the way she eats, or the way she laughs, or – "

"I like everything about her, and even if I didn't, I don't wanna take that chance."

"Austin, she's just another girl."

"She agreed to _one_ date. If this doesn't go well, I don't get any more chances, Jace," Austin says.

"Whatever. Just put Coco out of his misery and let him sleep."

"I can't!" Austin exclaims. "He's the only thing keeping me sane!"

Jace knits his eyebrows together. "Why _wouldn't_ you be sane?"

"Because I'm nervous!"

The brunette rolls his eyes. "You're gonna be _fine_ , dude. She likes you. Just go hang out with her and be yourself. The world won't end if you screw up here or there."

"I don't know if I can do this," Austin says, running a hand through his hair.

"You're so dramatic," Jace says.

"What if I can't even talk because I'm so nervous?"

"If you're that worried about it, take Coco with you to calm you down," Jace suggests.

"Ally would _kill_ me."

"She doesn't have to know.

Austin presses his lips together in a tight line. "Maybe I could keep him in the kitchen…"

"Perfect. Then you're not nervous, she doesn't know there's a monkey sniffing around her food, and the date goes well. Everyone wins."

Austin nods. "O – okay. That'll work."

Jace smiles. "Yes it will. Your date will be perfect and then you can finally stop being so dramatic about this Ally thing."

"I guess."

So Austin takes Coco to the diner with him and sets him on the counter in the kitchen, where he'll be able to come see him any time he gets nervous. Then he sets up the diner, putting a table cloth and a candle on the table he and Ally will be sitting at and preparing their food so it's ready when she gets here. He checks and double-checks everything, and when he's finally satisfied he sets out to Ally's house.

When Ally opens the door, Austin's nerves immediately spike up again.

"Hey," he manages.

She smiles at him, and he tries to stop his hands from shaking. "Hey," she replies.

"You, uh, you ready to go?"

She nods and steps outside with him, shutting the door behind her. "Are you okay?" she asks him.

"Yeah, of course I am."

He offers her his arm, and she loops her arm through his as they start the short walk to the diner.

"You seem…off."

"I'm never off. I'm always turned on, a hundred percent."

She looks over at him, her eyebrows raised. He swallows.

"That came out wrong – " he starts.

"Austin, calm down," she giggles. "You're not _nervous_ , are you?"

"Me? Nervous? Please, sweetheart. That word isn't even in my vocabulary."

"A lot of words aren't in your vocabulary," she points out.

"Hey!"

She smiles at him, and he can feel his heartbeat starting to return to normal. He smiles back.

"That's better," she says. "You don't have to be nervous."

"Still not nervous," he replies, opening the diner door for her.

"Whatever you say," she says as they enter. Then she stops walking when she sees the table he set up. "Wow."

"Too much?"

She shakes her head, that shining smile still on her face. "It's perfect."

"That's what I'm aiming for."

He pulls out her chair and she sits down, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Who knew Prince Charming could _actually_ be a gentleman?"

He grins, sitting down across from her.

"And who knew the city girl could last more than five minutes without looking in a mirror?"

"That one wasn't even funny," she says, rolling her eyes good-naturedly.

"You win some, you lose some," he says with a shrug. "Anyway, you hungry?"

She nods, smiling. "I believe you promised me the best burgers I've ever tasted."

"You will not be disappointed."

He stands up and winks at her before walking back to the kitchen.

As soon as he knows he's out of her sight, he lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He grabs the burgers he made them right before he went to get Ally and picks up the plates. Right before he walks out again, he notices a few nibbles missing from one of the burgers.

"Coco!" he whisper-yells, remembering that the monkey should be sitting on the counter.

He sets the burgers down and starts looking for him. "Coco," he says quietly so Ally doesn't hear from right outside. "Where are you?"

The tiny monkey crawls out from his hiding place between the counter and the fryer, a bite of hamburger in his hands.

"Coco!" Austin scolds him quietly. "You weren't supposed to eat that!"

Coco finishes the piece he's holding and starts climbing up the counter for more, but Austin grabs him.

" _No_ ," he says sternly, setting him on another counter on the opposite side of the kitchen. " _Stay_."

He gives Coco a hard look, grabs the plates, and walks out to Ally again, plastering a smile back on his face.

"I present to you, the best burger you've ever tasted," he says, placing the uneaten burger in front of her.

She grins. "I'm excited."

His forced smile melts into a real one again as he sets the other plate in front of his seat. "Do you want something to drink?" he asks.

She shakes her head, gesturing to the glass of water already in front of her. "I'm good, thanks."

He nods and sits down, glancing at her as she takes her first bite.

"Whoa," she says after she swallows. "You'll never hear me say this again, but you were right."

He grins. "Best burger you've ever tasted?"

She nods, taking another bite. He chuckles and starts eating his own food.

The date goes pretty well. They don't argue, they talk a _lot_ , they laugh and tease each other.

But then Austin notices _something_ hop out of the window from the kitchen into the main part of the diner. He swallows.

"You okay?" she asks him, knitting her eyebrows together.

He looks at her and nods. "Still okay."

"Okay…"

But suddenly the tablecloth starts moving, and then Coco appears on the table. Austin and Ally both stare at him, wide-eyed, as he looks between them.

Ally turns to Austin. "You said you were kidding!"

"I was!" he exclaims, looking at her and trying to think of a way to explain myself.

"Then why is he here?! Is this some kind of joke to you?!"

"No – "

She rolls her eyes and stands up. "I should've known you wouldn't be able to take anything seriously."

"Ally, it's not – " he tries, standing up too.

"Save it," she says.

And then she walks out.

Austin turns to Coco, his jaw clenched in anger. "You just ruined everything!" he shouts at the monkey. "I lost her because of you!"

Coco winces at the loud noise, backing up to the edge of the table.

"You ruined my chances with her! I hate you!"

He realizes that he's yelling at a monkey who can't understand him, but he's so _angry_ and _frustrated_ that he doesn't really care.

"Just get out of here!" he shouts, louder than ever.

The poor monkey winces again, loses his balance and falls off the table and onto the ground. He looks at Austin for a few moments, his nose twitching in fear, and then scampers away.

Austin storms out of the diner, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

 **I'm sorry it's been so long...school and life have been very hectic and my motivation to write this story has kind of disappeared. But I'm gonna finish it, and there are only two chapters left until it's over. Either way, I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

He isn't surprised how little he slept last night. All he could do was think about how badly he screwed up. Still, that doesn't make him any less tired when he finally decides to get up.

He rubs his eyes and looks over at Coco's hammock, where he expects to see the tiny monkey sleepy soundly like he always does.

But the hammock is empty.

A worried knot forms in his stomach and he looks over at his open window, chewing on his lower lip. He assumed Coco would come home sometime last night while he was asleep. But that didn't happen, and now he's probably out in the wild, so domesticated now that he probably won't be able to survive.

Austin grabs his phone and calls Dez.

"Hey, buddy. What're you doing up so early?" Dez asks.

"Have you seen Coco?"

"He's not with you?"

"I kinda yelled at him last night," Austin admits.

"Why?"

"He – well, I brought him to my date with Ally because I was nervous, but then he didn't listen to me and he kinda ruined it," he says.

"You realize he's a monkey and he can't _actually_ understand what you say?"

"Usually – "

"He's an animal, Austin."

The blond sighs. "Point is, I thought he'd come home sometime last night, but…he didn't. I'm worried about him."

"I can ask around," Dez says. "I'm sure someone will have seen him."

"I hope so," Austin says.

"It'll be fine, buddy. I'll let you know if I hear anything."

"Thanks, Dez. Bye."

The two hang up, and Austin looks around his room to make sure Coco really isn't there. Then, he calls Jace and asks if _he's_ heard anything, but unfortunately he's about as helpful as Dez.

He gets ready and leaves the house, looking around for where the little monkey might be. He checks the diner, but he doesn't have any luck. He walks up and down the beach, examines all the trees he can find as best he can, and he even loops back around to his house to see if maybe Coco came back while he was gone. But he can't find him _anywhere_.

The pit in his stomach is getting bigger and bigger as he keeps coming up short looking for Coco. He knows this is all his fault, and if anything happens to Coco because of their fight, he doesn't know how he'll be able to live with himself.

He suddenly stops, remembering the last time Coco ran away. He runs a hand through his hair and walks to Ally's house.

He knocks on the door, taking a deep breath and trying to swallow his pride as he prepares for her inevitable coldness and probable yelling.

It swings open a few seconds later, and there she is, in a pair of short shorts and a tank top, with the tiny monkey sitting on her shoulder as he nibbles on a strawberry.

She crosses her arms, staring at him wordlessly.

"I…" he starts, unsure how to start.

She raises her eyebrows, and he swallows. He glances at Coco, who seems to finally realize he's there as he looks up from his strawberry. He looks a little afraid, and he inches closer to Ally's neck, as if he's trying to hide himself in her hair.

"About last night – " Austin tries.

"I just don't _get_ you, Austin," she interrupts with a tired sigh. "I mean, you _beg_ me for a date, and then…and then you treat it like a _joke_ and bring Coco when you _knew_ – "

"You weren't supposed to know he was there," he says.

"He was still there."

"It was because I was nervous, okay?"

"What?"

"I was nervous. You knew that. I didn't wanna screw things up, and…Coco being there helped calm my nerves. Well, until he ruined it…"

She presses her lips together in a line.

"A – and you must not hate him _that_ much, considering…" He trails off and gestures to where Coco is sitting on her shoulder.

She glances at him, almost as if she forgot he was there, and then she looks at Austin again. Her cheeks tint pink.

"I felt bad for him. Because he had to deal with you."

"I'm _sorry_ – "

"Just take him," Ally says, lifting Coco off her shoulder and holding him out to Austin.

The blond sighs and reaches for the monkey, but he shrinks away, his nose twitching and his tail curling up.

"He's…scared of you," Ally notes, knitting her eyebrows together. "What did you say to him?"

"I just – I yelled at him, I guess. I was mad."

"So was I."

He ignores her, focusing his attention on Coco instead. "Hey, buddy," he says softly, holding out his hand for the monkey. "I'm sorry for what I said."

"He doesn't understand you," Ally deadpans.

Austin continues to ignore her. "I was worried about you," he tells Coco. "Can you forgive me?"

The monkey sets the stem of his strawberry down in Ally's hand, seeming to contemplate whether or not to go back to Austin.

"I'll make you a fruit salad," he tries.

Coco perks up at those words, and Austin smiles slightly. The monkey understands _some_ things.

Coco leaps from Ally's hand to Austin's, and Austin sighs in relief as the monkey climbs up his arm to perch on his shoulder. He nuzzles his cheek against Coco's and the monkey chatters happily, barring his teeth in his own version of a smile.

Austin looks at Ally again, and he notices a small smile on her face. But when she catches him looking at her, she quickly wipes it off her face.

"Ally – " he starts.

"You have your rat back, so you can go home."

" _Please_ give me another chance – " he begs.

"I already _gave_ you a chance."

"I know it was stupid, but it was just because I was nervous! Coco will stay home next time, I _swear_ – "

"Austin, maybe we just weren't meant to be. I leave soon anyway, remember?"

"Ally, _please_."

"No."

And then she shuts the door in his face before he can say anything else.

He exhales in frustration and walks home, trying not to feel too heartbroken. He knows it's his fault that his chance with her was ruined. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.

Because it does.

 _A lot_.

"Any ideas, buddy?" he asks Coco.

Coco doesn't reply, and Austin gets the feeling that even if he _could_ talk, he'd just tell him that this is his problem to solve.

* * *

He wonders how many fish he's killing with all the rocks he's throwing into the ocean as he sits on the Cliff. But he doesn't really care. He sighs and lays backwards, staring up at the starry sky.

He closes his eyes, trying to forget everything that's happened. Maybe if he puts in enough effort, he can just force himself to get over her.

Which would be great, except that he doesn't _want_ to get over her.

He knows they'd last, even with the distance. He imagines himself going to college near her, imagines them together years from now, laughing at how silly this argument was.

But in order for that to happen, they have to get through it.

He hears someone walk over and sit next to him, so he takes a deep breath and sits up, opening his eyes.

"This place really is good for thinking, huh?" she says.

He shrugs, watching her warily. "What're you doing here?"

"Same as you. Thinking."

"Why?"

"What do you mean?"

"You seemed pretty clear about what you wanted earlier. And it wasn't me."

"It would be pretty stupid to throw everything away just because you brought your pet along to a date to calm your nerves."

He bites his lower lip. "Your words, not mine."

She looks over at him, a small smile on her face.

"Does…does this mean you're giving me another chance?"

"I guess."

He smiles a bit, and so does she. He leans toward her and kisses her softly, brushing his fingertips against her cheek and closing his eyes. She responds immediately, and he can feel her smile against his lips. The kiss is short and sweet, a promise of a second chance.

He pulls away slowly and opens his eyes to look at her, smiling in admiration. He strokes his thumb along her cheek lightly.

"You're so pretty, Ally," he whispers.

"I knew there had to be a reason you seem to like me so much," she teases softly.

He chuckles quietly and presses another kiss to her lips.

She pulls away first this time, meeting his eyes.

"I think we're gonna last. If you don't screw up."

He smiles. "I think so too."

* * *

Their second date goes a lot better than the first. Austin takes Ally surfing for the first time, and Coco stays at home. Ally's terrified at first, refusing to let go of Austin's hand as she practices standing up on the board, but she ends up being a natural once she stops being so caught up in her fear.

"I could beat _any_ of you in those stupid surfing contests you do," she boasts as they walk along the beach after a couple hours of surfing.

"I bet you could," he says, draping the arm that isn't holding his surfboard around her shoulders.

She smiles up at him and he kisses her temple, finally feeling like everything is right in the world.

"Hey, Austin!" a voice calls from behind them. They stop and turn to see Dez jogging towards them. "Jace and I were gonna go surfing. Wanna come?"

"Sorry, buddy. Ally and I just went."

Dez seems to finally realize Ally is there, and he shifts his eyes between them a couple times. "I thought Coco ruined your chances with her," he says to Austin.

He shakes his head. "Nope, we're finally dating." He tightens his arm around Ally, smiling.

"Well, congrats," Dez replies with a smile. Then he knits his eyebrows together. "Wait, you guys went surfing? I thought Ally's dad – "

"He doesn't have to know," Austin interrupts.

"Sneaky," Dez says, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I think I hear Jace calling you," Ally tells him.

Dez frowns. "I don't."

"No…I hear him too," Austin says.

"Oh. Guess I'll catch you guys later, then. Bye!" The redhead waves and runs off, and the couple keeps walking.

"Today was fun," Ally says. "I like surfing."

"I'm glad," Austin replies. "Are you gonna keep it up when you get back home?"

"Let's not talk about me going home."

Austin sighs and kisses the top of her head, trying to push the thought of her leaving so soon out of his mind.

* * *

 **wow only one chapter left...but it's okay because i'm SUPER pumped for my next fic! I hope you liked the chapter and thanks for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14

He folds Ally's clothes and organizes them into piles like she asked him to, but he is _not_ happy about it.

"Austin, would you please stop pouting?" Ally asks for the fifth time as she continues to pack one of her suitcases.

"No," he replies.

"You need to get over this. It's happening whether you want it to or not."

"I don't want you to leave!" he exclaims, throwing the shirt he was holding down on the bed.

The brunette sighs. "I know you don't," she says. "But that doesn't mean you can throw a temper tantrum about it."

"I'm not throwing a tantrum," he says, crossing his arms.

"You need to accept that I have to leave and try to _enjoy_ the little time we have left together," Ally tells him. Then she looks at Coco, who's been attempting to _un_ pack her suitcase, and hooks her finger under the end of his tail. He curls his tail around her finger and she lifts him up by his tail, holding him at her eye level. "And so do you," she tells the monkey.

Coco stares at her, reaching his arm out and grabbing her nose. She sighs and pulls his hand away before setting him on her shoulder.

"We're just gonna miss you," Austin tells her.

"I'm gonna miss you too. But no matter how much we're gonna miss each other, I still have to leave tomorrow."

Ally continues packing her suitcase, so Coco hops down from her shoulder and starts pulling out as much as he can. But she gives him a hard look and he stops, taking a few sheepish steps away from the suitcase.

"We'll stay in touch, right?" Austin asks her, resuming his task of folding her clothes. "We aren't gonna grow apart, are we?"

"Don't worry about it, Austin. We're gonna be fine."

"And you're not gonna ditch me for some hot jock back home, are you?"

She rolls her eyes. "I like surfers. No jocks, no rich kids, no smart kids. Just surfers."

"Wait, I'm smart – "

"Agree to disagree."

Austin sighs, not in the mood for teasing. "I'm serious, Ally."

"So am I. I like _you_ , okay? Only you."

"What if you meet someone else?"

"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Austin purses his lips, focusing his attention on folding her clothes. He hears Ally sigh softly beside him, and then she rests her hand on his arm and kisses his cheek. He glances over at her.

"Why don't we take a break from packing?" she suggests.

He nods, and Ally picks up Coco to stop him from pulling out any more of her clothes before leading Austin downstairs. Coco leaps from Ally's hand onto her shoulder, but she doesn't seem to mind.

"Where are we going?" Austin asks her when she opens the front door and steps outside.

"Wanna walk along the beach?" Ally suggests.

He nods and takes the hand she holds out to him, following her outside and shutting the door behind him.

"Sorry for being so immature about all this," Austin mutters after a while, looking over at her.

She meets his eyes. "It's okay. I'm gonna miss you a lot."

He nods. "I'm gonna miss you a lot too."

She swings their arms gently, looking down at the sand for a while before speaking again. "I have a surprise for you."

He watches her as she lifts her gaze to his again.

"What is it?" he asks.

"I wasn't gonna tell you until it got closer, but…I talked to my dad, and he thought it might be fun if you and your parents came out to Miami to stay with us for a couple of weeks over winter break."

Austin smiles. "Really?"

She nods, smiling too. "The three of them have become pretty good friends, you know. So what do you think?"

"I think getting to spend two whole weeks with you in December is enough to get me through these next few months without you."

She grins and stops walking to kiss him. He smiles and responds immediately, resting his hands on her waist.

"Feel a little better now?" she asks him when they pull away.

He nods, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Doesn't mean I'm gonna miss you any less, though."

"I know. But at least you know we're gonna be together again soon. Something to look forward to."

He nods, lifting Coco off Ally's shoulder so he can drape his arm around her. Coco climbs onto Austin's shoulder instead.

"I'm glad you and Coco finally get along," Austin notes as they continue walking.

"I tolerate him," she says, clearly being too stubborn to admit she likes him.

"Good enough for me," Austin replies. "I'm glad you tolerate me, too."

"You're a little more difficult to deal with," she tells him.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Mmhm. But I'm just too tired to fight with you anymore. A whole summer of it was just too draining."

"Makes sense," Austin plays along with a nod.

"You know, you never told me if you regained your position as Frog King," Ally says, looking over at him with a small smile on her face.

He chuckles. "I did, once I explained to them that we were together."

"That's good."

He nods. "They said they wanna make you Frog Queen since you look so much like them, so I have to be King again."

"Ha-ha," Ally says sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"It's true," Austin laughs. "They told me."

"Well, what else did they tell you about me?"

"They said you were the prettiest frog they had ever seen."

"How nice of them."

"Mmhm," he says with a nod. "But that just means the slimiest, so…"

"Oh – what _ever_ , Charming," she says, sounding annoyed by endeared by him.

"I'm just repeating what they said," Austin says innocently.

"Do I wanna know what you said back?"

"I told them that they better keep their distance because _I'm_ your boyfriend. And I said that you're the prettiest frog _I've_ ever seen, too."

"Wow, thanks so much," she says sarcastically.

"I live to make you feel special, sweetheart," he teases.

She makes a face at him and he smiles, kissing the top of her head.

He realizes that for a few beautiful minutes, he actually forgot that she was leaving tomorrow.

* * *

"You're sure you have everything?" Trish asks Ally for the third time as they stand on the dock while Ally's dad hauls all their luggage on the waiting boat.

" _Yes_ ," the brunette promises, a small smile on her face.

"You didn't leave anything at the house?" Carrie asks.

"That's exactly what – " Trish starts, but then she decides it isn't worth it and sighs.

"I didn't leave anything at the house," Ally says.

"We're really gonna miss you, Ally," Dez tells her, a frown on his face.

"Stop, you're gonna make me cry!" Ally exclaims, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly.

Everyone else joins in for a big group hug.

Except Austin.

He stays off to the side, with Coco sitting still as a statue on his shoulder, watching his girlfriend say goodbye to all his friends and trying to process the fact that she's _actually_ leaving in just a few minutes.

"You're _positive_ you didn't leave anything?" Jace asks her.

"I quadruple checked my house, guys," she giggles.

"Alright, well…" Jace looks around at the rest of their friends. "We got you a bit of a going-away present. Just so you don't forget about us."

"And don't worry, we talked to your dad to make sure it was okay before we got it," Dez adds, a smile on his face.

"Aw, you guys didn't have to – " Ally starts.

"But we did," Carrie interrupts with a smile while Trish jogs behind a tree to retrieve her present.

The five of them woke up early this morning to go buy it so they wouldn't raise Ally's suspicions.

Trish walks back over to them, carrying a pink flowery surfboard with a big red bow on it.

Ally's face immediately lights up, and Austin notices her eyes starting to water.

"You guys…" she says, taking the surfboard from Trish. "I…thank you."

She fans her face and tries to blink away the tears. Everyone hugs her again tightly. Austin still stays out of it.

"Now, every time you go surfing back in Miami, you can think of us," Carrie says.

"I'll never be able to go surfing now because I'll just cry and miss you guys," Ally jokes, wiping away a tear that started rolling down her cheek.

Lester walks over and takes the surfboard from Ally to go pack it on the boat. "It's about time to go," he says before walking away.

She nods and looks at the group again.

"Stay in touch," Jace says, hugging her tightly.

"I will," she replies, hugging him back.

"And come back soon," he tells her.

"My dad and I were planning on coming back next summer," she says.

Everyone seems to heave a sigh of relief.

"Good. That's when I'm coming back, too."

"You're leaving?" she asks him.

He nods. "I'm going to college in the states. But we won't think about that now," he says quickly, glancing back at a sad-looking Trish.

Ally nods, too, and hugs him again.

Then Dez walks up and hugs her, lifting her a bit off the ground as he cries into her shoulder. She sniffles and rubs his back wordlessly, and Austin can't help but smile a little.

Carrie manages to pull him off after a few seconds so she can say her own goodbye.

"I'm gonna miss you, Ally," she says, wiping away her tears and trying to control her wavering voice. "Don't forget about me, okay?"

"I could never," Ally replies, hugging her tightly.

And then it's Trish's turn.

"We're not gonna drift apart like we did last time," she states, not even bothering to try to stop her tears.

Ally shakes her head, tears rolling down her cheeks too. "We'll talk like every day."

"I'll miss you."

The two best friends hug each other tightly, and Austin hears sniffles coming from all his crying friends.

He doesn't know how he's managed to stay so calm about this.

Eventually, everyone else joins in for one last group hug, and when they pull away they all say goodbye one more time. Then, they all hesitantly walk away to give Austin and Ally some space. Coco seems to sense that this is an important moment because he climbs down from Austin's shoulder and scurries over to sit on a rock a few yards away.

"You've been oddly quiet all morning," Ally says as she stands in front of him, no longer crying.

He tries to think of everything he wants to say to her before she's gone. But his mind goes blank.

So instead of saying anything, he wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her with everything he has, shutting his eyes tightly to try to push away all his sadness so he can focus on the feeling of her lips on his and memorize it.

She kisses him back with the same amount of urgency, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly.

He pulls away slowly, his mind flooding with everything he needs her to know.

"I'm sorry for everything I said that hurt you," he says quietly, leaning his forehead against hers and keeping his eyes closed to block any tears from coming. "I don't know if I ever apologized for everything, but I'm sorry. For all of it."

"It's okay," she whispers. "I'm sorry too."

He presses another kiss to her lips and pulls away enough to look at her. "Coco, um…he's really gonna miss you," he says, trying to disconnect himself from his emotions so he can get the words out.

She nods, not seeming to trust herself with words.

"And, um…" He winces when his voice cracks and clenches his jaw, looking away from her and blinking hard, putting all of his willpower into _not_ crying. "I'm…I'm gonna miss you. More than I think you know."

When he looks at her again, her eyes are full of tears and she has a watery smile on her face.

"I'm gonna miss you too." She can hardly get the words out, and he can barely hear her over the waves crashing on the beach by the dock and his heart pounding in his ears.

He wracks his brain for anything else he needs to say to her, and one thought keeps screaming at him over and over again, demanding to make itself heard.

He grabs her hands and looks up at the sky for a second to prevent his tears from falling. He meets her eyes for a second and swallows, quickly looking off to the side and clearing his throat.

"I…" he starts. But his voice is thick and he can hardly manage any words. He clears his throat again, determined to tell her everything. He looks her in the eyes, and he can tell that she knows what he's going to say, because that's just how she is. And for the first time, he's grateful for how well she can read him.

She squeezes his hands, silently encouraging him to go on.

"I promised myself I wouldn't cry," he says quietly, his voice catching at the end as he averts his gaze to the ground.

"It's okay," she tells him, her voice barely above a whisper.

He takes a deep breath and musters all his courage before meeting her eyes again and holding her gaze. "I love you," he tells her, his voice completely steady for the first time all day.

He's shocked at how much better it sounds now than it did when he practiced fifteen times in the mirror before he came.

A few tears roll down her face and she grabs his cheeks, pulling his head down so she can kiss him.

The tears on her eyelashes and the tip of her nose drip onto his cheeks, but he doesn't care. The only thing that matters is this moment. The only thing that matters is _her_.

He can feel her heartbeat pounding against his chest in sync with his own, and he wraps his arms around her waist again, hoping that maybe if he holds her tight enough he might be able to keep her here, with him.

She pulls away all too soon, but it's worth it when he hears a faint "I love you too," escape her lips.

Austin suddenly feels Coco climbing up his leg and onto his shoulder. The monkey leaps to Ally's shoulder and nuzzles himself in her neck, effectively ruining the moment.

Austin and Ally just laugh and wipe their tears as Ally reaches up to scratch Coco gently.

"Ally, time to go!" Lester calls from the boat.

The two of them look over at him for a second. Austin sees Ally look at him again out of his peripheral, and he takes a deep breath to meet her eyes one last time.

"Winter break," she tells him. "Only like five more months."

He nods, lifting Coco off her shoulder and pressing one more soft kiss to her lips. "I love you," he tells her again.

"I love you, too."

She pulls him in for a tight hug, and then she takes a few steps back, out of his reach. "I'll call you as soon as I get home," she promises.

He nods. "I'll wait by the phone," he attempts to joke.

She shoots him a small smile and seems to have to force herself to start walking down the dock. Coco fidgets on Austin's shoulder, and Austin holds him so he doesn't follow her. He watches her get on the boat.

"Don't forget about us little people, city girl!" he calls after her, trying to hold back his tears again.

She must not hear exactly what he said, because all she does is wave. He waves back to her, until he can't make her out on the boat anymore. Then, he watches the boat as he stands alone on the dock, petting Coco. He doesn't move until the white speck of the boat disappears beyond the morning fog on the ocean.

He puts Coco back on his shoulder and walks back along the beach to the diner, his heart heavier than he thought it'd be.

He's suddenly surrounded by his friends, all patting his back and trying to say anything to make him feel better, and for the first time all summer he feels completely like one of them again.

"You get to see her this winter, don't you?" Jace says. "It'll come before you know it."

"And you guys will probably talk all the time," Dez adds.

"It'll be like she's not even gone," Trish promises.

"Except that you can't hug her or kiss her or anything," Carrie says.

Trish gives her a look, but Austin smiles slightly. "Thanks, guys," he says.

"We ordered you pancakes," Trish tells him as they all walk back to the table the other four were already sitting at.

He nods and sits down, unable to stop himself from being reminded of the day he and Ally got in that stupid little bickering fest over her stealing his food. He starts eating anyway, immediately comforted by his mom's best recipe.

Coco doesn't move on his shoulder, and Austin wonders if the monkey misses Ally even more than he does.

"She told me she loves you, Austin. If that makes you feel any better," Trish says, rubbing his back.

"I know," he says, pushing a bite of pancake around his plate so it collects more syrup. "She told me. After I told her I love her."

"Remember when you hated her?" Carrie asks. "That was dumb."

"Yeah…yeah it was," he says.

He kind of hates himself for wasting so much time hating her that he could've spent _being_ with her this summer. But at the same time, what they have probably wouldn't be as special as it is if he hadn't.

He's just glad she chose to steal _his_ spot on the beach and _his_ friends and everything else he cares about this summer over anyone else's.

Especially his heart. He hopes she keeps that.

* * *

 **And that's the end! A few people have asked me about an epilogue or a sequel, and I'm sorry but I'm not planning on writing one. But I will tell you that they stay together and live happily ever after in Miami after Austin goes to college near Ally in the states when she goes to a super awesome business school. Also she takes over her father's business and she surprises him with a house after they graduate (and in this house Coco has his own cute lil bedroom/playroom). They get married and have cute kids and they vacation with the others on Lost Isle every summer and it's wonderful.**

 **Anyway, I'd really like to thank all of you lovely readers for sticking with me despite my horrible updating schedule. I appreciate every single one of you, whether you've been reading every update since I posted it or you just pulled an all-nighter and read it all in one sitting. Your reviews and follows and favorites are so wonderful and encouraging and you're the reason I keep writing :) Also, special thank you to Lexy for helping me out with this story and listening to my ideas, and thanks again to Normah for making the beautiful cover for this story.**

 **One last thing, don't forget to stay tuned for my next fic! It's gonna be my best one yet!**

 **P.S. Drink up, me hearties, yo ho ;)**


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